WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?
“But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?“Luke 10:29
Love to our neighbor seems at first an easy lesson to learn. But when we begin to study it, it grows harder. There is more of the lesson than we thought. We like to pick our neighbors, and we are sure to choose people who are congenial.
How to love our neighbor is taught in the parable. It is easy to have a sort of universal love – a love for everybody, a love we can exercise in our quiet home, looking at people in the distance, but not coming near to anyone. It is not just the same, however, when we go down among the people, and find our neighbor in some disagreeable person we cannot like, but waiting for our help, or in some enemy in need. The Good Samaritan found his neighbor in a hated Jew bleeding by the wayside. He had to get down in the dust and stanch his wounds, and then carry the man to an inn and pay the bills. It often costs a great deal to love a neighbor. The lesson is written out in full at the close: “Go, and do thou likewise.” (J. R. Miller)
We often speak of unconditional love but we seldom see it. Most of us are guilty of withholding love from those who do not live up to our expectations or please us in some way. We seem to forget that “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” ( Rom. 5:8). May God help us to love the unlovely– just as He loved us. Unconditional love is the result of our character, not the other person’s conduct.–HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
