Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

BY DN NICHOLAS ANG

I grew up in a Christian household, and I am privileged to be a 3rd generation Christian. It’s truly a blessing when you have role models at home who lived up to their faith, and one particular person I recall was my late grandmother. My late grandmother was known to be generous, kind, and wise. Whenever we visited her during my younger days, I noticed she was always on good terms with her neighbors. I heard stories of her generosity and how she frequently shared the food she cooked with them. She often reminded us to be contented; and as children of God, we should be thankful always. She taught us to be generous in all circumstances. A phrase in Teochew “gam xia zhu” which means “Thanks be to God” was always on her lips. As her grandchild, I did not manage to live in the same household with her to witness her day-to-day living. However, I managed to catch a glimpse of it, in a very different way after her passing.

In 2018 after I got married, I stayed in my late grandmother’s house for a short period of time. I got acquainted with the neighbors, and they shared with me many of my late grandmother’s life stories. One close neighbor shared about my late grandmother’s consistent charitable acts, care, and selfless giving to their children. So much so that when my late grandmother passed on, their children also felt the loss. They shared that my late grandmother was a faithful believer of Jesus Christ. Each Sunday without fail, my eldest uncle would come pick her up to attend church service. Neighbors recalled that one Sunday morning my late grandmother insisted on attending Sunday service despite her great discomfort, and the neighbors helped her down to the carpark even though she was weak. Little did they know that it was her last Sunday service and she passed on shortly after. They witnessed what it means to be a faithful Christian.

Throughout my stay there, my neighbors have been great neighbors too. They often shared food with us, and each time we would also share something in return. We always shared goodies during special occasions, and their children have also become our friends. We helped each other to water our plants when any of the families is away. When my son was born, they came with gifts, tonic for my wife, and frequently came by to ask how we are. Our door is always open, and we greeted anyone who walked passed. One day I expressed my thanks to my elderly neighbors for their generosity, and to my surprise, they said “your grandmother did the very same to us when she was around. She believed in Christ and was a good neighbor. We miss her.” At that moment, I felt a verse came alive from the life of my late grandmother.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and

with all your mind. This is the great first commandment. And a second is like it:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ~ Matthew 22:36-40 ~

She lived her life consistently and left behind a legacy of generosity and charity. I felt that the goodness I experienced from my neighbors today was partly passed on from my late grandmother’s giving many years ago, and it was Christ in her life that taught her how to give.

A close neighbor whom we called “aunty neighbor” passed on last December. In our grief, I understood a deeper meaning of what loving a neighbor meant. Till this day, my wife and I miss her, and often talk about her. We continue to be good neighbors to her family. Now that I will be moving on to a new estate, we will also carry this legacy of being good neighbors with us – we shall love our neighbors as ourselves, so that our neighbors may see Christ in us.

My family is truly blessed to have my late grandmother who had lived a legacy of love that came from Christ. We too as Christians can live out the same legacy of love, having Christ in our lives too. I pray that this short sharing can encourage us to continue to be good neighbors in our neighborhood and be a witness for Jesus through loving our neighbors. Amen.