The main idea in this commandment is that we live in community with others. Included in our vocation as Christians is a real concern for the well-being others. Very important to that is being a good neighbor. We may do this individually as we lend a helping hand to a neighbor in need. We may do this as a group as we did when a number of members of our church refurbished an elderly woman's home. And we did this with other Christians when we joined the Habitat for Humanity effort in Rio Linda.

Assuming we’re not thieves, burglars, or con artists (!), the chief way we break this commandment is captured in the word neglect. We may become so involved with our own stuff that we miss the needs of someone just down the street. Today, ask God’s forgiveness for the ways and times you are neglectful of your neighbor and the larger community. But also give God thanks for the times when in faithfulness to the gospel you help someone else "improve and protect their property and means of making a living." And for when someone did that for you!

Finally, don’t forget to think about larger political and environmental issues as part of purview of this commandment. Our neighborhood is the whole world.