Taking Down Fences

Taking Down Fences

This is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

We moved into our new neighborhood in the spring, and immediately my husband formed plans to take down the large privacy fence that blocked off our yard from the alley behind it. A few weeks later, on a warm, early summer morning, we began the work.

Shortly after the fence came down, we wanted to host a neighborhood party to get to know the other people living on our block. Kyle took invitations around with our kids, and we planned for the party we’d host in our backyard. Several neighbors came through the alleyway, easily accessing our backyard now that the fence was gone.

As the evening went on, we started a bonfire, and as people began to settle in and move past the nervousness of small talk, one neighbor mentioned to my husband, “We knew you’d want to be our friends when we saw the fence come down.” My husband affirmed his statement that yes, we wanted to be friends.

Our neighbor’s offhand statement has stuck with me, even today. How often do we erect fences, either physical or metaphorical, to keep people at a distance? John 3:16 is a familiar verse to most of us, but do we fully understand the text, “This is how God loved the world”? This verse teaches us that God loves everyone, not only those we naturally love, but also those we don’t. He didn’t give his Son only for those we want to invite into our lives, but also for those we’d rather keep at a distance. God gave his only Son for all of us, indiscriminately, and if we are his followers, we must be willing to love others in the same way. Because although there’s nothing inherently wrong with having fences in our backyards, we must be careful about the fences we erect in our hearts.

— Kendra

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Consider who you may have kept at a distance and find one way you can extend friendship toward that person.