Show love
"On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (NIV) Luke 10:25-37
This is one of my favorite stories from the bible. It is full of lessons that are just as applicable to our lives today as they were when Jesus originally told it. What I would like to focus on is how important it is to act in our Christian walk. If you’re anything like me you feel guilty when you know you have done something wrong but it doesn’t hurt quite as much when you neglect to do service when you know you could have. This story teaches us clearly that sins of commission (doing something we shouldn’t do) are equally as wrong as sins of omission (not doing the things we should do).
The church is the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27) and as such we are expected to show the love of Christ to the world. We will be given opportunities to help those around us who are in need and we need to take those opportunities whenever we can for the glory of God. It would have been much easier for the Samaritan in this story to pass by like the priest and the Levite did but he chose to show love. Sometimes showing love means hard work but we can encourage ourselves by remembering the love God has shown to us through His son, Jesus Christ. Jesus worked hard everyday while on earth to show love and give us an example to follow. Let us strive to fulfill His command from John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”