Love thy neighbor...

Last night my next door neighbor played music so loud that it was rattling my window frames... at 8 pm at night.  In my innocence, I sent her a message asking if they could possibly turn the music down just a bit, for the sake of my windows.  Thinking her a Christian woman like me, I was confident she would be a good neighbor.

I was wrong.

The response I got was that the music was turned off completely and when I sent a note to say that it wasn't necessary, I got a rather nasty reply back from her, coupled with being blocked on Whatsapp.  This completely threw me and I've been struggling to "get over it" since last night.

How can someone that gave them self out to me, on the day we formally met, as a Christian, be so vindictive and mean to a neighbor?  The hurt I felt made me look for solace in my Bible and I found a few verses on the subject of neighbors that told me:

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.  Matthew 7:12
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Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. Romans 15:2

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Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galatians 6:10 

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Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. Romans 14:13

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Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  Colossians 3:13

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The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these. Mark 12:31

If you are a true Christian, our first thought should not be one of spite, but of being a good neighbor, as the Bible clearly instructs us to do.  Hubby and I've always tried to be good neighbors, yet thinking back, I've never had good neighbors anywhere we've lived as a married couple, who've treated us the same way.  Why is this?  Do people mistrust each other so much, that we cannot even be kind to the person living next to us who has to take our loud music late at night?  Life has changed so much... I didn't grow up knowing neighbors like this.  Our neighbors as kids were like family... we were constantly in each other's houses, laughing and playing together, got scolded by each other's parents, helped each other out in need and are still friends today, all grown up.

I struggle with small things like neighborly conflicts affecting my life.  I don't like people not liking me, ever.  I try so hard to please others, that it has taken quite a physical toll on me.  My eldest seems to be the same and can get affected by people's responses the same way I do, while my husband has this way of just letting things roll off his shoulders - something I envy and wish I could do too.

Every time I get upset like this, I mull it over and over in my head, making it even worse.  I don't sleep well and I grind my teeth badly, to the point where I am currently sitting with an abscess and am going for a root canal today.  I am praying so hard every day that this will be the year that God will deliver me from this evil and make me a happy person again.

So to you, my neighbor who so clearly needs to hear the Word more in your life - I forgive you for your response to my simple request.  I will keep on greeting you and if you don't greet me back, I will pray for you.  But I will not be defined by your response to my request - to be a good neighbor, as God expects us to be.  Some day you too will learn this lesson: