Neighbour

 Be not a witness against your neighbour without cause, and do not deceive with your lips. Do not say, "I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done." Proverbs 24:28-29 ESV

If your neighbour's moaned about your unkempt front garden, that doesn't mean to say you can refuse to take parcels for him when he's out and the postman comes round. "Two wrongs don't make a right"! Just because your neighbour might have bad mouthed you doesn't mean to say you can gossip about him.

I think Solomon's on about something more serious than where our friends park when they visit our house. Maybe your neighbour blocked your planning application for an extention, and you want to block his. Don't, Solomon would urge.

Revenge isn't a just cause to have a vendetta against our neighbours. Revenge is God's job, because only He can execute perfect justice. Of course, if a neighbour's guilty of a crime against us, we can pursue it in court. But our desire should be for peace and harmony in our neighbourhoods, not strife and conflict.

Deceit isn't acceptable for a child of God. Neither is doing to others as they do to us. Instead we should do to others as we would like them to do to us. We should be the change we want to see in the world.

"Loving Father God, may we love our neighbours as we love ourselves, and strive for peace in our neighbourhoods. Then we will be good witnesses for You and the honour of Your name, amen"

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