Skip to main content

Love Is Not What You Say But What You Do!


I believe that there are times that God will allow us to go through stuff not more so that we may learn through the experiences individually but for others. I don’t believe any of us woke up one day deciding that we want to go through a hard time.

Lately the Holy Spirit has been reminding me about the parable of the story of the good Samaritan [Luke 10:25-37]. There is a need to go the whole nine yards into exegesing the text into understanding why Jesus had to use the good folk as the Samaritan instead of the Jews.

“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.”

Luke 10:25-37 NIV

Jesus shares the parable of the good Samaritan in response to a religious leader’s question of “who is my neighbor?” In his story, Jesus tells of a priest and a Levite, both religious leaders, who walk by the dying man on the road. Both avoid the man and choose not to help. The dying man, the priest and levite all have one thing in common. They are all Jews. Then Jesus describes the way the Samaritan notices the man, has compassion on him, and takes care of his needs. A powerful story with a profoundly simple truth. A religious title doesn’t make you a good neighbor; your actions make you a good neighbor.

It’s crazy how directly this story applies to our lives. Take a second to think about it…

The Samaritan took care of the dying man by bandaging his wounds, taking him to an inn, caring for him, and paying for his stay. In those days the Samaritans and the Jews did not see eye to eye. Divided by racial and ethnic barriers. Perhaps that’s why the Gospels and Acts provide so many instances of Samaritans coming into contact with the message of Jesus. It is not the person from the radically different culture on the other side of the world that is hardest to love, but the nearby neighbor whose skin color, language, rituals, values, ancestry, history, and customs are different from one’s own.

The good Samaritan wasn’t just helping; it was extravagant love. The dude was a complete stranger, but the Samaritan had mercy and showed a ton of grace. How could this look in your life? It may look like reaching out to that street child today. It may look like listening to someone who’s having a hard day. It may look like giving food to someone in need. It could look like a lot of different things, but it definitely doesn’t look like inaction. Love does; neighbors do.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Make Room: God Desires Your Undivided Attention

Last Sunday, the Lord woke me up at 4am. After spending some quiet time with Him, I stepped out of bed at exactly 5:30 am. Being a Sunday, there’s usually a lot on my plate. Then suddenly, I remembered that there was supposed to be a video shoot in my house that day—something that had completely slipped my mind. As I prepared my cup of coffee, the Holy Spirit nudged me to pick up my Bible and spend more time with Him. I could sense the Lord was longing for my undivided attention. So, I opened my Bible and asked the Holy Spirit what He desired to teach me. He led me to Joshua 5. I began reading quietly, but soon felt prompted to read aloud. This chapter speaks of Joshua circumcising an entire new generation of Israel with flint knives. I paused and asked, “Lord, weren’t the male children supposed to be circumcised on the eighth day?” The Holy Spirit delights when we ask Him questions. It became a moment of fellowship between us. He then led me to Numbers 9, particularly verses 15–23, an...
1 comment
Read more

The Struggle of Separation

When God begins to separate us, it rarely feels easy. In fact, the first stages of isolation often feel confusing, lonely, and even painful. I remember when I first stepped out of the familiar into the unfamiliar, I couldn’t fully understand what God was doing. For years, I struggled to settle. Life felt as though it had slowed to a crawl. Many times, I prayed: “Lord, is this really Your will? Or did I move by my own doing? If I am outside Your will, forgive me and realign me with Your purpose.” That prayer became the cry of my heart in the wilderness season. The Silence of God One of the hardest struggles in separation is that God sometimes seems silent. We pray and wonder if He hears us. We search for direction but don’t receive immediate answers. It feels like being hidden, unseen, and even forgotten. But silence doesn’t mean absence. In reality, God is working beneath the surface, reshaping our desires, humbling our hearts, and preparing us for what lies ahead. The Loneliness of Is...
Post a Comment
Read more

An open letter to my " Family & Friends"

Dear family and friends, With over 500 contacts and double that on my phone book I woke up to an experiment wanting to see how many of my so called “close friends, allies, and close family members” would reach out and probably save me from the self-destruction path I had intentionally taken upon myself. I posted depressing status as a way of crying out for help and seeking attention. But unfortunately, none of those that I had anticipated would be the first to reach out did. Not a word until this very moment. Not to say that they did not see my depressing status but some actually downloaded the same status and posted as their own status posts. You see many are the times that I have scrolled through my phone wondering whom to chat up with or talk to because I feel so lonely or because I need someone I can trust to just listen or because at times I am just in need of some sought of reassurance and found none. This is to say that if I was on a path of self-destruction...
3 comments
Read more