One of my favorite stories Jesus tells is the story of the good Samaritan. I think this story is so revealing. Jesus tells this story in answer to the question, “if the greatest commandment is to love God and the second is to love your neighbor, then who is my neighbor?”
Jesus tells the story to contrast those who get it wrong and those who get it right, I want to focus on the one who got it right. What were the things he did that we should emulate?
1. He saw the need.
2. He was moved to action
3. He reached out to a complete stranger
4. He refused to judge
5. He got extremely involved
6. He gave generously
7. He saw it as his responsibility
8. He saw it all the way through
The moral of the story turns out to be, the question is not, who is my neighbor, but who can I be a neighbor to?
So like Jesus told the lawyer “go and do the same.”
Today, find someone who you can practice these acts of kindness on. Let me know how it turns out.
Thanks
David