Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: NEIGHBOR (06/01/17)
-
TITLE: Would you hold the door for Jesus? | Previous Challenge Entry
By Emmanuella Ellis
06/08/17 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
A few minutes after that my friend made a comment which wasn’t quite surprising because that wasn’t the first time she had said that. She also told me about a couple of people who had said the same to her. She said to me “Don’t hold on to the door for them, they wouldn’t have done the same for you.†That however wasn’t entirely true, there are times when some people would not hold on to the door for you but there are other days when others would. And with that being said, the fact that they wouldn’t do it for me doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t do the same for them. My reason for doing that is not because I would like to the Lord to have an account of the many times I have held on to the door for people so that He would bring my way people who would do same.
I do that because it’s a nice thing to do for people and I am sure God will be pleased with it. The whole scenario got me thinking and I asked myself the exact question Jesus was asked in the Bible, who is my neighbour? Jesus responded to the question by telling His audience a story which made it very clear who a neighbour was but even more importantly who a good neighbour is (Luke 10: 25-37). And I think we haven really thought through it that well. Somehow, we forget that every single person we come into contact with in a day is our neighbor.
Every single person we are in contact with is our neighbour either it’s the people we meet at the grocery shop, coffee shop, workplaces or school or the people we meet at the door of the school building for a few seconds. For some reason we think that we only become good neighbours when we help the injured person or someone who is in dire need of help. Just like it was narrated in the story. But I think it goes further than that, I think being a good neighbor is doing your very best to make things as easy for some other persona s possible. It is helping out when there is a need and helping out even when there isn’t one. If holding on to the door will be helpful to someone even though he/she has two good hands to open the door because it makes going through the door much easier, then do it.
If you find someone moving a few meters to reach the bags at the grocery shop but you are close enough to reach it, then get the bag and pass it on to her. It could be smiling back to the lad y or gentleman who showed kindness by offering a smile or being the first to smile to the other person who might need that show of kindness. These are the little things that makes life easy for everyone especially since we like it when its done for us. Being a neighbour is who we are when we are in contact with anyone on the surface of the earth. No whether we would call ourselves a good neighbour, like the good Samaritan is entirely different.
If Jesus was our neighbour, I am sure we would have acted very differently. We would go beyond offering help when He asked for it to when its not requested. We would actually offer to live with Him just so we would do all the work. Use me oh Lord, we would tell Him. May I serve in your household my Lord and King, we will be the song on our lips, what would you have me do today, don’t bother doing it Lord, I will gladly do it for you, we would quickly add.
We do say all these words to God on a daily basis as we pray and fellowship with Him, however we have not come to the realisation yet that Jesus is in fact our neighbor. These Bible verses make this clearer to us; Matthew 25:40 “……whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you have done for me….†Genesis 1: 26-27, James 3:9, Genesis 5: 1-2 “Being made in the likeness of God.†Based on these verses we know that we come into contact with Jesus each and everyday. So would you hold the door for Jesus?
Being a good neighbour is not only about offering help when needed or asked for but when its not asked for. Why? Because I know Jesus would have done just that as He moved around thinking more about others than Himself and He would be happy to find us doing the same.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
I think that breaking the writing into shorter paragraphs would have helped the flow somewhat.
It was also helpful to have some Bible verses quoted so I could think through for myself what the Bible says about who is a neighbour. Thanks for the read.
A few points to help on future writing.
Read out loud your work. You will catch the silly misplaced, misspelled and wrongfully inserted words. The following is an example from your story:
"My reason for doing that is not because I would like to the Lord to have an account of the many times I have held on to the door for people so that He would bring my way people who would do same."
Also a good hook will draw your reader in.
Take your time and read over it and don't submit it until you have read over it several times. Also, go to the area on Faithwriters in the forum section that will give the criteria used to judge. Then go over each point before submitting.
Good job and hope to see more of your writing. God bless.
While you did a good job, it could be even better. It's important to hook that reader in seconds because it's too easy to click on something else. Although this is likely a true story, you can still use dialog and creative nonfiction to make it even more interesting. Tightening up the sentences also will leave more room for the powerful thoughts, dialog, and body language. For example, I might edit it like this:
Walking home with my friend, we cut through a building. After opening the door for Lisa, I turned and saw a group headed my way, so I held the dour for them. I heard Lisa sigh as she slumped against the wall She rolled her eyes while she waited for the troop to tromp past us. "Why do you always do that? You can bet they'd never hold the door for you."
I put my hand on her shoulder. "You don't know that. Seriously I'm not the only nice guy in the world. If I can take a few seconds to make someone's day easier, what does it hurt? It took me all of three seconds. You never know how even a simple smile can change someone's outlook."
I know I took some liberties that you might not, but little things like dialog and body language can make it real for the reader. The reader doesn't need the extra words like: back, one, Tuesday, to go through, college, we got to the entrance. (You can't open the door unless you're at the entrance. It doesn't matter what day or that it's a college. Although, I did add a name to make her more personable.)
Of course, your edits will show your voice better, but I hope my examples help show what I mean by tightening and using dialog.
You definitely nailed the topic in a fresh and interesting way. You make the reader stop and reflect, and that is always a good thing. Your message is sound and I liked the Scripture you chose to back it up.
I like your title, and reference in the story: Would you hold the door for Jesus? This is the essence of what you were trying to illustrate.
I recommend using the Preview button before submitting. There were instances where a blank line would separate paragraphs. It also helps you with checking spelling. I like to read my Preview out loud. Invariably, I find things I need to correct or reword.
You made a good point. Nice job. Keep writing.
Blessings~
Keep writing and God bless!