We’re socially isolated. We can’t gather in groups. We’re working from home. We can’t even go to church. But you can love your neighbor.
How are Christians meant to express their faith in these strange days of COVID-19?
It’s tough, I agree, but there are plenty of ways to love your neighbors, even during lockdown. Here’s 35 simple ways to love your neighbor as yourself, even at a distance.
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR BY PRAYING FOR THEM
- Do a regular prayer walk in your neighborhood, praying for each household.
2. Pray in general for those infected, those at risk, and for decision makers.
3. Offer to pray for your neighbors.
4. Host a front yard prayer meeting (appropriately distanced, of course).
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR BY ENCOURAGING PEOPLE
5. Chalk messages on the sidewalk at night so it surprises people in the morning.
6. Set up a chalkboard in front of your house and write messages for passersby.
7. Talk to your neighbors as you walk (keeping your required distance, of course).
8. Join or launch a front window bear hunt for the local kids.
9. Begin podcasting or blogging to share your thoughts and encourage others.
10. Leave a note for your local postman.
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR BY GIVING TO OTHERS
11. Launch a street Facebook or WhatsAp page to share needs, ideas, and encouragement.
12. Deliver gifts (hampers, toilet paper bouquets, cookies) to your neighbors’ doorsteps.
13. Rally people at your local supermarket to buy extra groceries for hampers for those in need.
14. Offer one of your spare rooms to a backpacker or asylum seeker for free or cheap board.
15. Ask people to donate laptops and tablets for families who are homeschooling and don’t have access to technology.
16. If you live in an apartment, lower a basket by rope filled with comfort items for the homeless
17. Raise funds for a cause using an online donations platform
18. Try to form a coalition of pastors, business leaders, community leaders, and others to help meet the needs of families and those in financial difficulty
19. Set up a little pantry outside your home and fill it with toilet paper and non-perishables
20. Set up a community street pantry that everyone can donate to.
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR BY SERVING OTHERS
21. Drop notes in your neighbors’ letterboxes offering practical help.
22. Offer to do the shopping (including the pharmacy) for your elderly neighbors.
23. Add a ‘love your neighbor’ page on your church website where neighbors can offer help and seek help
24. Intentionally support small local businesses.
25. Volunteer at a local non-profit or charity.
26. Clean up trash from the streets and parks.
27. Write letters to politicians to release asylum seekers who are now at higher risk of getting sick.
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR BY SOCIALIZING
28. Make a list of all the people you’ve wanted to catch up with and haven’t, and then call or message them to check in on how they’re doing.
29. If you’re musical, hold a balcony concert, or a sidewalk or driveway concert.
30. Hold a “Dinner on the Driveway” night for everyone in your street.
31. Host a virtual dinner party using Zoom.
32. Project a film onto the side of a building for your neighbors to watch from their front yards.
33. For apartment dwellers, launch a balcony choir or exercise class.
34. Host an online trivia quiz.
35. Most of all, wash your hands regularly and thoroughly, practice social distancing, and if you have symptoms of fever or infection stay home and seek medical advice.
This article about how to love your neighbor originally appeared here.