It takes someone with a true heart of God to help or show love to a
stranger without considering ethnicity, gender, culture or religion. The
scriptures tell us to love unconditionally, without any strings attached.-
“thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:” and “Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself.” – Mark 12:30-31. In Luke 10:25-37, we read
about the parable of the Good Samaritan. In this story, we learn what it
means to truly be a neighbor. On one occasion, an expert in the law
wanted to prove his intelligence to Jesus, so he asked Jesus, “who is my
neighbour?” – Luke 10:29, Jesus then replied by telling him the parable
of the Good Samaritan.
A man was attacked by robbers and beaten so badly he was left half
dead,. Passing by him was a Priest, who saw him but decided to walk
away. Likewise, a Levite looked away when he saw the same man. But
the good Samaritan saw him, had compassion on him, went to him and
bound his wounds, poured oil and wine on his wounds to sooth his pain,
carried him on his donkey and brought him to the inn and paid to take
care of him. In this parable, the Samaritan was the most unlikely person
that should have helped the man who was attacked by the robbers, given
the hatred and animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans.
As believers, it is important for us to reflect the nature and be good to
everyone we meet. We don’t need to have anything in common with
anyone to show love or help in times of need. We are meant to be kind
and compassionate, Ephesians 4:32, we need to be helpful and protective,
Galatians 6:2,. Also, we must not judge people based on who they are.
Matthew 7:1-5.
The priest, who everyone would expect should have helped in this
situation did not show empathy and love. The priest could have used his
influence to get help for the man but unfortunately, because he was not
selfless enough, Philippians 2:4, and he did not consider the man a
neighbor, he decided to walk past him and go about his day like nothing
was wrong.
You need a godly heart to be able to love and help your neighbor. You
can only have a godly heart when you genuinely and wholeheartedly love
God. The grace to love unconditionally is received when you love God.
As a good Christin, you must be the light of God to everyone around you
and think about the needs of others just as you will think about your
needs. You will be handsomely rewarded when you extend the love you
have for God to other brethren, and to your friends, loved ones and
everyone around you – Mattew 25:14-30. God bless.