This is How We Love Our Neighbor
From New Love
by on February 21, 2016
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? (Luke 10:25–29, KJV).
As humans, it’s easy for us to admit that there are people in this world that are a bit harder to love. We struggle with loving all people because they’re different from us: background, values, lifestyles—the reasons are endless. But, we must express a love towards others that goes beyond our own limitations, preconceived notions, prejudices, etc. If we love people with God’s love, it will be easy to love others.
In our focus Scripture, a man questioned Jesus to define his neighbor. Jesus provided an answer in the form of a parable (John 10:30–35). His story answered two things: who to love and how to love them.
Jesus used a Samaritan as the focal point of His parable. To the Jews, Samaritans were half-breeds—they didn’t think they were worth much. But, when Jesus spoke of love, He opened up the scope to extend farther than the typical realm. A neighbor was anyone around you: from the worst to the best.
We need to love those who don’t even share our values. When we love others, they will begin to value what we have to share. We have something inside of us that they need in their life!
The Samaritan came and had compassion on the person in the road (Luke 10:33). In America, we have started to slip into a mindset to just observe the situation others are in and to pass on by. But, the Samaritan exercised compassion and stopped to help. The Samaritan didn’t care if the person was a man or a woman, a Jew or a Gentile. He knew he needed to extend love.
When Jesus looked upon us, He didn’t care who and what we were. His amazing love reached down to help us up from our sinful, messed-up state. The love that reached down into us should be the same love we use to reach out to others.
The Samaritan poured oil and wine into the man’s wounds, and bound them up (Luke 10:34). It was common to use oil for a soothing effect in an open wound. The use of wine was to cleanse the wound before binding. The Samaritan sought to get to the root of the problem before taping up the issue.
It’s easy for us to gloss over people’s real problems and just provide the oil—soothing them in their state without providing a resolution. People may think they just want the oil, but they need the wine to clean out what’s hurting them.
God loves us where we are, but doesn’t want us to stay that way. He made us righteous by His blood and His death on the cross. We need to allow God to work through us to help others with His love with both aspects of His cleansing.
When the Samaritan had brought the hurt man to the inn, he told the innkeeper to “Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee” (Luke 10:35, KJV). The man was going to come back.
We have misconstrued the concept of the “good Samaritan.” Being a “good Samaritan” isn’t just a once and done ideology. We are to come back and continue to love someone over, and over again. God’s love is a consistent love!
We are not able to love others the way God loves us until we get His Spirit inside of us. We do not possess the ability to love on our own. God’s love is shed abroad through the Holy Ghost (Romans 5:5).
The only way we can receive the Holy Ghost is by repenting for our sins, being baptized in the lovely name of Jesus, and Scripture promises that we shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38). Let’s seek Him today and His love, so we can do unto others as God has done unto us.
