But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”   Luke 10:30-33 HCSB

Jesus responded to the lawyer’s question with the parable of the good Samaritan. I encourage you to read it through in Luke 10:25-37. This was Jesus’ response to a test from a lawyer, supposedly an expert in the law of God. This lawyer asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life.

Jesus responded that he must love the Lord with all his heart, all his soul, and with all his strength and with all his mind. Jesus then told him he must love his neighbor as he loved himself. The lawyer then responded with, “And who is my neighbor?”

This is when Jesus gave the parable of the Good Samaritan. James 1:22 tells us we must not only be hearers of the word but doers of the word. Our pastor told us last night that we must not simply come to church and hear God’s word being taught and preached, but we must share what we learn with others.

The first thing you must ask yourself is do you love the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind? Are you sold out to Jesus? If so, you will want to do all He commands of you. John 14:15 says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

Jesus was trying to teach that we must be neighbors to others, especially those who are in need. Our neighbor isn’t defined by some geographical boundary, close, personal relationship, or even fellow church members. It’s anyone we may encounter who is in need.

You may recall the series, Mr. Rogers. “Won’t you be my neighbor?” was a documentary released in 2018 on the life of Mr. Rogers. A review by Vox said that as children, we learned from Mr. Rogers that “being nice is not a weakness, speaking with care is something we do because we believe the person we’re talking to is a human being with worth and dignity.”

This man had a priest and a church official pass him by. For whatever reasons, they may have given they did not stop to check on him or render aid. Yet, a Samaritan who would rarely even travel this road frequented by Jews helped him.

We all have friends that we can call on in times of trouble. We have friends that we would come to their aid any time day or night.

But who is our neighbor? Jesus told this parable to illustrate to the lawyer that each one of us has a responsibility to be a neighbor-especially to those in need.

In his series, Mr. Rogers, asked in a song, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” We are told in Romans 12:20, that we should even be neighbors to our enemies by feeding them when they are hungry and giving them something to drink when they are thirsty.

We live in a world filled with evil. We see Isaiah 5:20 coming to life before our eyes. People are calling evil good and good evil. We see evil taking place all around us. We are persecuted when we try to do what is right.

So, I ask you today, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” Won’t you love the Lord with all your heart and be good to others? Won’t you show compassion? This is the only way to defeat the evil that is in this world.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:21 that we must not be conquered by evil, but we must conquer evil with good.

If it takes your goodness, even to your enemies, to conquer evil are you willing to step up? Are you willing to put your anger and bitterness aside to do what is right? Are you willing to forgive?

We are told in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 that people will be exhibiting all types of heinous behavior in the end times. This leads us to believe that it’s not going to get any better. But we still must live as God instructs us to live. We must show love and compassion.

We must not be conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Our compassion and kindness may not save the world, but they will go a long way to making our little part of the world a better place.

Have a great day!