3 Neglected Ways to Love Your Neighbor.

CrossTalk volume 4

Want to love your neighbor? Start by embracing your limits.

When we think of loving God and neighbor we conjure up images of prayerful intercession, community Bible studies, and inviting others to church events or serving at community kitchens. We think of ways to make a spiritual turn in conversations and feel guilty for failing regularly in this endeavor.

What we so often miss is that one of the most crucial ways to love our neighbor is to live within our physical limitations.

We aren’t just souls, we are bodies. God made us physical beings with physical needs. This means taking care of ourselves by embracing our God-given, physical limits is one of the most loving things we can do.

So, you want to love your neighbor? Don’t (just) run straight to your Bible, run to these three things as well.

Get Enough Sleep

We all like to believe less sleep and more coffee is the secret to success. It isn’t.

Eventually sleeplessness will catch up to you. Study after study shows that without the proper amount of sleep, everything gets worse. The longer we go without enough sleep, the more our brain function slows down while sickness, anxiety, exhaustion, and moodiness creep in.

I know that when I’ve slept enough my mood is better, my capacity for patience is greater, and I’m a more enjoyable person to be around.

In other words, I’m much more loving.

Drink Enough Water

God made us to need water so let’s be sure we get enough of it.

Up to 60% of the human body is water and if our water intake is down, a laundry list of bad things can happen. Headaches, fatigue, mental fog, suppressed immune systems, risk of stroke, and so much more.

Conversely, if we’re drinking around 64 oz of water a day, we feel significantly better and health risks go down.

This summer I realized that I wasn’t drinking enough water so I bought a Nalgene water bottle that I fill up in the morning and afternoon. I carry it with me throughout the day to ensure that I that I meet my 64 oz goal.

Like sleeping, drinking water has increased my focus, my mood, and helped me to be a more loving presence to those around me.

Have a Weekly Sabbath

In the winter of 2020 I read John Mark Comer’s The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry and started to sabbath weekly.

This means that I intentionally set aside one day each week to stop working and get off social media to rest and recharge. On these days I sleep in, read, spend extended time in Scripture and prayer, workout, go on long walks, share meals with friends, and spend time with my wife. I intentionally step back and fill my day with restful, life-giving things.

God himself rested from creation on the seventh day and then commanded Israel to do the same. In his earthly life, Jesus rested every seventh day. We weren’t created to work constantly but to rest as well.

Pausing weekly is an act of surrender and faith. It’s a regular acknowledgement that we can’t go 24/7 and we serve a God who works for us while we rest. It’s also a means of trusting God to care for us while we pause and live “unproductively” for a whole day.

By resetting every week, we’re living a faith in a new way and filled up to go out in service to others the rest of the week.

Why This Matters

I’m not saying that if you do these things you will automatically be a better human being.

What I am saying is that we are created beings. God created us to need sleep, water, and rest. It’s impossible for us to survive—or thrive—without submitting ourselves to this reality.

The beautiful thing is that by accepting these limits we actually uncover freedom.

When I yield to how God made me, I feel more freedom to pursue the things he’s called me to. When I’m healthy and rested, I have the mental clarity to focus on the work before me, to sit in silent prayer, and the energy to serve my neighbor. When I’m living within my God-given constraints my capacity to love others grows.

Embracing limits is the key to freedom.

Embracing limits is a gift to be rejoiced in—not an obstacle to be overcome.

One Book I’m Reading: The Practice of the Presence of God

Written over 300 years ago, this book is a gem. It’s full of insights from Brother Lawrence, a monastery cook who learned to live constantly in the presence of God. Whether he was washing dishes, speaking to a friend, walking, or in quiet devotion, he did all he could to remain in God’s presence. Here are three quotes I love.

Our sanctification does not depend as much on changing our activities as it does on doing them for God rather than for ourselves.

I honestly cannot understand how people who claim to love the Lord can be content without practicing His presence. My preference is to retire with Him to the deepest part of my soul as often as possible. When I am with Him there, nothing frightens me, but the slightest diversion away from Him is painful to me.

Think about God as often as you can, day and night, in everything you do. He is always with you. Just as you would be rude if you deserted a friend who was visiting you, why would you be disrespectful of God by abandoning His presence?

One Thing I Love: This Video 👇

🎉Today marks 1 month of Crosstalk 🎉

Thank you so much for taking time each week to be apart of this adventure!

If you’re encouraged by these weekly newsletters would you pass it on to 1 person who you think would be encouraged as well?