“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” 1 John 4:11-12
National Night Out (NNO) is held each year on the first Tuesday in August. On Tuesday, August 6 people across the nation will spend the evening with neighbors and local police. Neighborhoods will host a variety of special events such as block parties, cookouts, parades, flashlight walks, contests, and youth activities and will be visited by local police and other first responders. Check with your local law enforcement to see if you still have time to register your event.
The start of August also ends our 31-day Sweet Scripture Writing Challenge. The “one-another” Scripture for the last day of July is 1 John 4:11-12.
What do these things have in common? Well, as a follower of Christ we should always be looking for ways to love others, ways to create community, and ways to show the love of Christ to a world that desperately needs it. At Sweet Monday we create opportunities for women to connect with each other and with Christ. Even if you are not a Sweet Monday hostess, if you are a follower of Christ you should desire to connect others with the one who “so loved us” and for others to see Him whose “love is made complete in us.”
National Night Out is a great way to put names with faces, build relationships, and establish community in the neighborhoods where God has placed each of us. Reach out to the neighbors you know to help put together a simple event. Most police departments provide goody bags for children and send McGruff as well as officers to NNO events.
If National Night Out seems like too much for you to put together in a week, then start smaller. Invite a couple neighbors over for a cookout. Start by praying and asking God to make clear to you an opportunity to reach out to your neighbors. Then pray for God’s provision and direction and trust Him with the outcome.
At Sweet Monday, this is what our hostesses do every month when they offer hospitality at a simple and sweet gathering in an effort to reach out and love their neighbors. And each month our hostesses witness God at work as He makes more out of the little we all have to offer and His Word never returns void. Take what you have learned from God’s “one another” verses and look for opportunities to love your neighbor.
Jennifer Russell