Child of God:
Introduction
- Love your neighbour, though they be poor
- Take your eyes off your Neighbours wife!
- Resist temptation from Naughty neighbours
Introduction
Neighbours can be a source of blessing in many ways. When you have a good neighbour that is at peace with you, count yourself blessed. Good neighbours are a great source of inspiration for extroverts who love to socialize.
There is no limit to what a good neighbours can do for you, when you are living in peace with him. At the same time, some neighbours can be difficult, proud and arrogant. A bad neighbour can be a serious nightmare for a child of God to manage, yet, you have a duty to live at peace with them.
A matured Christian have no problem living next door to anyone. Why? His duty to his neighbours are clearly spelt-out in his heart - Love your neighbours as yourself, pray for your neighbours, protect the interest of your neighbours and make all effort to live at peace with them.
You are responsible for your actions, and it is important to live the talk and show love to your neighbours. It is not difficult to know a friendly neighbour.
Importance of Neighbours
Can I say that relationship with neighbours can seriously affect our relationship with God. Neighbours here include colleagues, business associates and those living in the same compound with you. These people whether they are friendly or not, rich or poor, young or old will be used by situations and even the devil to test your faith in Christ.
Your wisdom, faith and patience will all be best by your neighbour as the days go bye. Some of them will deliberately offend you, while others will pretend to be your friend when they are not.
Neighbours are among the witnesses watching you and they are the people unto whom your light as a child of God should shine unto. Apart from your immeiate family, your neighbours are next important community to you, so, you have to love them, Some of them may not like your face, yet your obligation towards them remains intact.
The bible admonished us not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers...including your neighbours. If you are treated with disdain, respond with love. If they reject you, you have a duty to accept them.
Relationship with Neighbours:
Admired by your neighbours? - Love your neighbour means to show him the love of God, pray for him and his progress, have a warm and friendly relationship with them and fulfil your obligation to the community - The house or Estate where you live.
But what do you do when your neighbour is interested in having an affair with you. What do you do to stop him/her from putting unnecessary pressure on you? Simple solution - PREACH THE WORD OF GOD TO HIM!
Preach the Word to him/her, win her for Christ
If you are born again Christian that a woman in your office or at the place where you live is admiring, you are not in any trouble at all. One simple solution is to preach Christ to that woman or girl and invite her to your Church and the spirit of lust disturbing her will leave her alone.
In the office, business place or at home. It requires the same approach - Preach the gospel to that woman or lady and win her for Christ. Lead her to Christ and then invite her to your church and let the demon leave her. If you can share your faith with her and possibly lead her to Christ, then hand her over to the church discipleship and training team, the demon of lust will leave her. This is the cause of infidelity ravaging homes today.
Types of Neighbours - Real life experiences:
Having known that there is a power behind the married woman neighbour that is admiring and trying to seduce you, you should be better prepared to know what to do. I still can't understand why a Christian cannot rebuke a foul spirit, a demon and the demon will leave.
Brothers and sisters, learn how to exercise your authority in Christ each time you are face to face with a demonic spirit. It will make life easy for you and your Christianity sweet.
Three categories of neighbours:
1. Arrogant neighbours - A young writes from the USA: I am wondering what is the best way to deal with an arrogant next-door neighbour. He and his wife are overly confident DINKS (double income, no kids), and any and every contact with them in the neighbourhood is so annoying.
2. Seductive Neighbours: - These are people who dress to keep trend and do not care whether their dressing is seductive or not. If they like you, they will get close to you for the sake of friendship. That means that when you are married, you will not make yourself available to such a neighbour.
3. Friendly Neighbours
There are friendly neighbours who are like blood relatives in many ways. You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your neighbours. If you are lucky, you have good neighbours. But some neighbours are not pleasant and can make your life miserable at times. If you have good neighbours, consider yourself blessed.
A good neighbour is friendly and considerate. They respect your privacy and only come into your house when there is need. They support the well being of the community, and protects the interest of others.
What to do - BACHELORS!
If you are a bachelor facing temptation from the opposite sex at home or office, try these steps and you should be fine. The first step is to take your eyes off the opposite sex, who is not your wife.
Avoid Tempting Situations
Having victory over a charming lady that is determined to pull you down through sexual immorality will require that you stay from her traps. The last thing you want to do is find yourself alone with her, don't allow that.
Consider The Consequences
Consider seriously the implication of your fall spiritually and physically. Pondering the consequences of your action. Is it going to help or hurt your self-image and reputation as a born again Christian? What about your future, will it work against your marriage in the future? IT WILL!
For married couples, you have to consider the implication of a strange relationship on your marriage. How would your wife respond if she knew? Think about where your actions can lead and then imagine your wife finding out. Do you want to deal with the fallout? Always think of the end game. Where do you want to be? Are your thoughts and actions leading you there?
Consistent Prayer
Prayer is the act of communicating your thoughts, worries, hopes and dreams to God. Lift up the desires you are feeling and ask for help. God made you and knows you and can deliver you time and time again.
Choose Your Friends Wisely
Identify the loophole the man or woman is using to get close to you and block it. Change your itinerary and other steps that will free you from that person. When battling sexual temptation, there are plenty of people we can find that will encourage and enable it. You can still be their friend, but by all means, avoid joining them in their poor relational choices.
Keep High Standards
To be a gentleman is a choice. A very good choice, and this world today needs many more. Despite the vast amount of temptations that life throws our way, we should hold ourselves to the highest of moral standards. Self-discipline in all areas of our life leads to positive results.
Redirect Your Passion
Rather than being controlled by untamed lust, direct that passion in positive directions. Use that energy to brainstorm about ways you can bless your wife. Perhaps focus on things that will make the world better like volunteering at a homeless shelter. Coach a youth sports team. Mentor troubled individuals.
TEMPTATION IN THE COMPOUND - Rebuke the Tempter!
Infidelity, which is the action of being unfaithful to a spouse, is probably as old as marriage itself. It is today, the number one cause of divorce everywhere in the world. The question is how should a married man or woman react to love admiration by a neighbour, colleague or close friend. These tempters know their target is married, yet they persist in showing interest.
Let your spouse know what is going on: For people who are genuinely not interested in extramarital affairs, when someone of the opposite sex starts getting too close or sending questionable signals, you should inform their spouse about it. This, they said, would put them in check.
Walk away from that Tempter One other way to stay faithful to a partner is to avoid the source of the temptation (the individual), because constant contact would likely increase the pressure on the person’s resolve, which is usually, naturally limited. “Once you realize that you have a soft spot for someone of the opposite sex, the best thing is to keep away as much as possible from that individual.”
Remember who you are:
You are a born again Christian and your body is not for sexual immorality. You have been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ, called out from the kingdom of darkness unto the marvellous light of Jesus Christ.
Consider the consequences: Given the common saying that betrayal of trust is hard to repair, perhaps one good way married persons can overcome temptation to cheat on their spouse is the harm it could to do to their partner, the relationship, their children, image, sexual health – in terms of sexually transmitted diseases – and even any child (in case) that could result from such a relationship.
Tell yourself it must not happen:
Every man should remember that it is just natural to be tempted, and temptation will not stop soon. So, its your responsibility to fashion out how to respond. It’s your responsibility, to yourself as well as your partner, to resist temptation,”
Follow the advice of your spouse: Findings have shown that talking to a friend, counsellor, religious leader, or anyone who knows better could help. This is because they could have passed through such or they could know a better way to deal with it, and this should be done before ‘anything’ happens and not after, because once it has happened before, it might happen again.
Close the relationship: Beyond avoiding the person, people who are having soft spot for an opposite-sex are also advised not to meet with them in lonely places. Close the relationship if you can, but if he is a colleague or neighbour, let your communication be official and at arm's length.
CONCLUSION:
Beloved, I wish you can see that a difficult relationship with a neighbour can hinder some people from seeing the Lord. For instance, if you live among the poor and needy neighbours, and the Lord has blessed you, then the Lord planted you in their midst for a purpose, to help them and uplift the lives of those you can.
In conclusion, we have to apply the word of God in dealing with sexual temptations. The bible says you should flee, there is no alternative to fleeing. For many years, I will tell young people to take their eyes off the opposite sex that is not their wive, and when you are ready to marry, be diligent to find your own wife. I pray for you, that you will not make mistake in marriage.
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