BLESS Every Home: Five Practical Ways to Love Your Neighbor
BY PASTOR JADY GRIFFIN
WHAT IS B.L.E.S.S?
Bless Every Home is an organization that teaches people how to share the gospel with those who may not know the power, hope, and freedom in Jesus.
They provide a simple, practical framework for blessing those around us:
Begin to Pray for Them
Listen to Their Story
Encourage Them
Serve Them/Share a Meal
Share Jesus with Them
We’ve made the idea of evangelism (or sharing the gospel of Jesus) something we do versus how we live. God is inviting us to learn a new rhythm of living. That means recognizing where He has put us as an opportunity to see the Kingdom of Heaven impact and transform our lives.
THE ROXY & THE PICKUP TRUCK
When I met my wife Liz in the summer of 2000 at Baylor, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. Unfortunately, Liz was not as fired up about the idea! It took some convincing. She was obviously way out of my league, and I was not the only guy who found her incredible.
A couple of months after meeting her, I had an idea– my big moment to win her over would be on her birthday. I didn’t have much money, but I saved up and found this swanky restaurant called Salado that everyone recommended. So I made a grand plan to pick her up for dinner, celebrate her like crazy, and make her fall in love with me.
I learned that afternoon that she had gone out with one of my friends for a lunch date that same day. This dude was a literal model and everything I was not. He was cool, rich, handsome, blue-eyed, spontaneous, and the life of the party. I, on the other hand, am more of an attractive personality and a good planner, so I was feeling the pressure to bring it on this date.
I picked Liz up, and so far, everything was going well. We were having a good time, but when we got to the restaurant, I was so nervous I couldn’t speak. I scarfed down my meal so quickly that the server cleared my plate while Liz was still cutting her entrée.
Dinner was clearly not going well, so as we made our way back to my old ‘87 Nissan pickup (that had no A/C), I thought, Bro, be spontaneous! That is what she likes!
So out of the blue, I looked at her and asked, “Wanna go clubbing in Austin?” Liz replied, “Let’s do it!” You need to know something— I had never been clubbing in my entire life. I had also never come to Austin to do much of anything, but I heard that Sixth Street was popping, so I thought, We should head there.
We got to Sixth Street, and I had no idea where to go or what to do. I tried to act like “this is just what I do” and rolled with the adventure. On the inside, though, I was freaking out. I was so out of my comfort zone, but then, like a beacon of light, I saw a sign I recognized: a club called Roxy.
I had heard about the Roxy in Houston, so I said to Liz, “Oh, let’s go here! I heard it's awesome.”
We got in line, made it in, and it was the shadiest place I had ever been in my life. It also appeared that everyone in the club knew we had no business being there. So after about five minutes, I looked at Liz and asked if she wanted to go home. She immediately said yes. We left the club and drove back to Waco, never, ever, to mention anything about the Roxy again. That whole night was so awkward it physically hurt.
LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR
Most of us do not live a missional life because we have experienced or heard of interactions that were so awkward they physically hurt! Your experience with it may feel so unnatural that you think, “There is no way I am doing this right, so I am just going to live my life and do my thing.” But when we do that, we miss what it means to really know God.
In Matthew 22:37-38, Jesus defines what a life of faith looks like:
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
To love God with all of who we are and then, in turn, to love our neighbors is built into us as followers of Jesus. We cannot do one well and then not do the other. To love God with all that we are is to love our neighbor as ourselves.
So how do we do that and not feel like a teenager walking into Club Roxy with a girl you are trying to impress in a night gone terribly wrong?
Living on mission is simple. We live with an understanding that the people God has put around us are all there to B.L.E.S.S.
So, begin to pray for the people around you, listen to their stories, and get to know them. Encourage them, serve them, share a meal with them, and share Jesus with them.
TAKE A STEP
Ready to begin blessing those around you?
Your first step is easy: download the BLESS EVERY HOME app! Adopt homes in your neighborhood to pray for and receive daily reminders, helping you stay focused on living missionally.
