Good Samaritans...

I'm sure you've all noticed the news lately. Filled with sadness and hate. Judgment and scorn. A he said/she said battle that would rival a middle school cafeteria. Stories of courage that are met with ridicule out of fear of the unknown. Stories of racism that a country won't admit still exists. Stories that are so unbelievably tragic all you can do is cry. 

And I do. 

But I also pray and within those prayers are the hope that my Christian brothers and sisters will stand up and showcase to the world that is watching what the meaning of Christ's love is really all about. 

And then I cry some more because time and time again, we fail.

We fail to help from fear. We fail to listen from hate. We fail to simply stand next to each other with an open ear, open arms and most of all, an open heart. We ultimately fail to love and in doing so, we fail to bring people to Him. In fact, we do the opposite. We turn people from Him. With our hate. With our judgment. With our scorn. With our "better than you" attitudes. 

I'm not a biblical scholar by any means. I can recite maybe 5 verses off the top of my head, but I'm pretty sure no where in the bible says, "Go thee, and hate. In my name, turn others from seeking me because I just don't like them." 

All kidding aside, I have always envied those that can recite applicable scripture for any situation and I have made it a goal and prayed many a prayer that I become more connected with using His word in my own. And prayers are answered y'all because this week I feel like He was speaking to me (and well, when He talks to you - you best shut up and listen). 

As I was sitting in church on Sunday listening to a sermon that I personally felt wasn't sharing the true meaning of Christ's love ... He laid on my heart The Parable of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10:25-37. It states... 

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 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’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live." 29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”30 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. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 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. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] 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.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Did you see it? It's so simple but yet we find it so hard to follow. 

Love your neighbor as yourself. 

Love your NEIGHBOR as YOURSELF.

Here - sometimes it takes a cute image to bring home the point. 

Y'all. It's what we've been taught since we were tiny humans. Love thy neighbor. It's rampant in the bible - from beginning to end. Love. Love others as He loves us. 

Unconditionally.

Unequivocally.

Unquestionably. 

Love. 

It literally is all around the bible. 

1 John 3: ... This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them,how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

In actions. And in truth.

1 John 4:19: We love because He first loved us.

And let's not forget 1 Corinthians 13. Y'all. Come ON! I can remember my grandmother sitting me down and reading me that passage over and over again. Whenever we were together, she talked about love. God's love. And what love means. 

He loved us. He LOVES us. 

And all He is asking is for us to do the same. 

He's not saying agree. He's not saying be the same. Heck, He's not even saying that everyone is right. 

He's just asking us to love. 

And I just don't think that's too much since He sent his own child to die for us. A horrific death. For you and me so that we may love one another. 

Just like that good samaritan. 

I'm not sure what made me write this today (well, I know who made me write it - I'm just surprised I listened). I'm not even sure it makes total sense. But if it speaks to even one person that wasn't so sure about love, well then it's served it's purpose. 

It really is that simple. It really is that easy. Like my good friend Jen says, "People can hate me because I love Jesus. But I would never want people to hate Jesus because of me." 

Think about that. How many people have been turned away from the ultimate love because we haven't offered our own? 

Be a good samaritan today. I promise you won't regret it.