Have you been of assistance to your neighbour today?

Written by Dede Abebreser Tsonyake.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (NIV) Galatians 6:9-10

The parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) gives a good explanation of who a neighbour is. A neighbour is anyone you can assist in any form of difficulty. But when and how many times must one assist a neighbour? Galatians 6:10 says “as we have the opportunity”. It did not say, “when we have the opportunity”. This means that now is the time that we have the opportunity, a time will come when we will not have the opportunity. For me, this opportunity is LIFE. Life is the opportunity we all have as at now so each day we are blessed with it, let us do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers. 

As we have recognized that the opportunity required to do good is life, we have to proceed to identify what about our lives or is in our lives that can be used to do good. Is it the gift of motivation through speech? Is it the wealth you have been blessed with? Is it your ability to convince people? Is it your sacrificial nature? just to mention but a few. Look within and identify what you have to assist your neighbour today.

Our world has become so scary that it is so difficult to offer any form of help to a stranger for the fear of that stranger doing you harm in return. For example, there are times I wish I could give a stranger a ride at night but all of a sudden, the story of a driver who was murdered by a stranger he gave a ride to comes to mind and then I drive off. There are other scary examples that make it difficult to help a stranger but this must not deter us from doing good. Let us start doing good within the family of believers (Christians).

If doing good must be a daily business, then it means we must make it a daily business to identify neighbours and the type of assistance they need. What use will it be to assist somebody who does not need the particular assistance you offered? For example, if you give money to a neighbour who requires words of encouragement, then you have not assisted that neighbour. Perhaps, you might be thinking “this is a lot of work”. Well, remember that doing good comes with reward (Galatians 6:9) and any job that comes with a reward, comes with difficulties. A typical example is our earthly jobs we attend to on a daily bases. However, the reward of doing good is not comparable to that of our earthly jobs. It often comes with blessings both on earth and in heaven.

I would encourage you today to do good to your neighbours on a daily bases with the help and guidance of God. May God bless you!

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