Do not plot harm against your neighbor, who lives trustfully near you. Proverbs 3:29
When you first look at this verse, it sounds preposterous, doesn’t it? Why would we think of harming our neighbor?
My neighbors downstairs often have knock-down-drag-out fights at that wonderful morning hour of 3 a.m. I’m not sure why they choose that hour to begin their shouting matches, but they do. They last anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours. And of course I’m not able to understand their arguments because they’re in Spanish. So, I fall back asleep during the lulls only to be waken again in three minutes. The easy thing to do would be to go downstairs and knock on their door to let them know about their excessive racket. But instead, on any given fight night, I’ll throw something heavy on the floor repeatedly or just jump up and down, which begins a mini Hatfields and McCoys between us and them.
I give this humorous illustration to say that I am clearly not a great example of how to befriend a neighbor in the wee hours of the morning, and it would clearly be easier to ignore the noise or go downstairs to remind them of the hour. Later in the day when I think they’re asleep, I really really want to jump up and down repeatedly to wake them.
That’s when I hope this verse comes to mind.