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BEING NEIGHBORLY

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 20, 1901

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 78, No. 34.

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BEING NEIGHBORLY.

I WONDER how many of the sisters think of the good they might do by being neighborly, and how much harm by being so selfishly engaged in their own affairs that they have no time for others. Perhaps the lesson I received might benefit some one else, as it did me.
Our nearest neighbor — we lived in the country — moved away, and a family from another State came to their place right away. I intended to visit these people soon after their arrival, but I expected to move soon, and was very busy sewing, so I put it off, always hoping for a more convenient season. Then I thought I was not going to continue their neighbor, so it would not matter if I did not call. But one day I chanced to hear that they had a little baby about two weeks old which was very ill. Feeling condemned, I put up my sewing, and called on them. But how uncomfortable I felt! How empty seemed all the excuses I tried to offer for not coming sooner; for I knew that if I had had true love in my heart, I could have gone before. The baby died the next day. I did all I could to help them in their time of trouble. The poor woman told me how she had longed for me to call on her, and how lonesome she had felt.
I thank God He taught me a lesson which I hope I may never forget.
Dear sisters, let us be as friendly and helpful to our neighbors as possible, not letting our own affairs keep us from doing our duty. It sometimes costs self-denial to put our own work by and visit our neighbors, but we do not know who may be lonely and longing for some one to come; if we go in Christ’s name, we may bring help and comfort to some troubled, lonely soul, and honor to our Master and the truth we profess to love. Let us be faithful in little things.