5 Ways to Love Your Neighbor This Halloween

1. Lend a Helping Hand

As the weather gets chilly, homes require preparation and maintenance to be ready for the winter season. For many elderly or those unable to do this for themselves, a helping hand is a way to come alongside your neighbor this season. This does not mean offering services you do not know how to do, but if you have a skill, offering a helping hand is a beautiful way to support and love those who need it and who may not have anyone else to ask. Even offering to rake leaves or plant seasonal mums is a gift and a simple way that can have a deeper and lasting impact. Ask the Lord to highlight to you those on your street or in your community that you can help or serve with the skills you have been thoughtfully equipped with and take that step to help.

2. No Tricks, Just Treats

The way to someone’s heart is very often someone’s stomach, and a little honey certainly goes a lot further than vinegar. Whether it’s a loaf of homemade pumpkin bread or some little goodie bags filled with candies, some sugary goodies are a kind way to love on your neighbors this Halloween. In the heart of sharing the love and Good News of Christ, consider including some Bible verses as well, or a thoughtful card with a prayer, verse, or invitation to church. Remember that in extension to loving others and sharing the Good News, it is important not to be pushy but to live in action of the words we share. We will be known by our fruit, so live in such a way that is evident of the salvation that you have received.

Offer some treats with a compassionate heart, not expecting any response or reciprocation. Extend treats, no tricks in this act of genuine neighborly love!

3. Invitation to a Social Event

Thankfully, with the Pandemic behind us, the time to gather together has arrived once more, and with it the opportunity to enjoy social functions. Instead of only planning to attend an event yourself, question if it would be an opportunity to invite those around you as well. Perhaps your church hosts a Harvest Festival, and your neighbors with young children might enjoy coming as well, or your small group is having an adult Halloween party, and the neighbors down the hall might like to be invited. Even if the neighbors decline or do not show up, extending the invitation is the first step in cultivating more of an opportunity for a relationship, and you never know how it may go. If you are hosting a Halloween party, offer an invitation to the neighbors around you; it will help them feel included, and there is no limit to the beauty that could unfold in connection.

Photo credit: ©GettyImages/The Good Brigade

4. Host a Block Party

In the same vein as inviting neighbors to a social function, consider hosting a social function just for your community. My Pastor did this over the summer with a cookout at the house he rents, and the stories that came forward were profound. He printed flyers extending an invitation and left them on the doors of neighbors for a few blocks for a Saturday afternoon filled with burgers and hot dogs. He didn’t have the motive of anything but getting to know his neighbors, and the result was that a good number of them came out to just shake a hand and get to know my Pastor a little better than just “the guy with the big brown dog.”

He has shared how now, when he is out walking his dog, those neighbors stop and say hello or seek to chat with him, and it has brought the community a little closer together. Take a nod from Pastor Mike and consider hosting a little block party. A little goes a long way, and it can cultivate lasting memories and connection for years to come with those around you.

5. Make it Extra Special for the Kids

Make it extra special this year when the kids on your block or in your apartment complex go trick-or-treating on Halloween. Growing up, one of my neighbors would sit outside her home and hand out candy for the kids but warm cider for all the parents. I remember she was so warm and inviting, and although I was a very shy little child, she made me feel safe. Unsurprisingly, she would offer gestures like warm cider for the adults because it was just a tangible piece of who she was inside being given outwardly. She inspired me, and as an adult, I have seen how things like trick-or-treating are just as much for adults as they are for children. On the other side, we have a beautiful opportunity to love our neighbors by making the night memorable, safe, and fun for everyone.

This could look like going the extra mile and making a non-scary game for the kids to participate in or enjoy or giving out unique treats instead of typical candies.

Maybe it looks like cultivating a sensory-safe place for children with sensory sensitivities to enjoy, or maybe it looks like offering a warm cup of cider to the adults walking around on a chilly October evening with their children. It may even look like making a little version of “The Great Pumpkin” with Charlie Brown and the kids getting to take home their own special pumpkin. Get creative with ideas of how you can make this Halloween one the kids and adults will never forget.

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

This season has ample opportunity to connect with and love your neighbors. In the effort to live intentionally in the present and a mind considering the future to come, invite the Lord into this time. Ask God to help guide you in ways you can foster community, extend kindness to those who might often be overlooked, and ultimately love your neighbor as yourself. Remember that when you love your neighbor, you are reflecting the Light of Christ that abides in you and loving someone hand-crafted by God Himself. Don’t waste this time and season or allow the busyness of life to distract you from all the glorious things you have to offer this Halloween and Autumn season.