Day 6: Love Everyone as Your Neighbor

I'm tired. And I have no idea when I'm going to catch up with this. So, my plan of attack is to set up the days I haven't written about yet, write about today's chapter, and catch up when I can.

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The Good Samaritan- everyone knows the story, or at least the point of the story. But how we ignore it! Are we the Priest, too high and mighty and "involved in the Lord's affairs" to take the time to care for someone in need? Or are we the Levite, too rushed on our way to the temple to bother with touching someone who is inevitably going to make us unclean and therefore unable to perform our duties? Too seldom do we take the role of the Samaritan, despised by the world, turning the expectations of others completely upside down, and giving the injured man not only time to bandage him up and take him into town, but also to provide for him shelter and food for the next few days as he recovered! Sometimes we might start to be that Samaritan, pitying someone and helping them out. But far too often we stop short of providing them with the full service that they really need. Whether we are afraid to associate with the person and want to avoid being ridiculed by others or we are too busy to be bothered for "too long," we are not fully loving the injured person that God has placed in our life path.

Here's the key point (I think): the Samaritan had no previous relationship with this man on the side of the road but he helped him anyway. That is what God means when we are to love everyone as our neighbor. After all, if it were a dear friend or family member there, we would bend over backwards to make sure they were taken care of! Why then do we ignore the stranger? This chapter points out two major factors: our differences and our fears. I love this idea: "[h]uman love is a 'some people/some places/some of the time'" kind of love, while God wants everyone, everywhere, and all the time! But how are we supposed to do that? WE CAN'T. Not alone anyway. We're too wrapped up in what others think, too scared to reach out and touch someone that is different than us in the chance we are seen as (or feel) unclean, too anxious about other robbers hiding in the bushes! And what do we have to worry about? God will take care of us! If we would just stop trying to be God and instead let Him be God in us, we would save ourselves a lot of trouble and heartache. It's scary to give up that kind of control at first. And it is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. But man. . . once you can reach that point and see what He will do, there's nothing else that can compare to it!

One final thought: there is no fear in love.

Point to Ponder: No one is outside the bounds of my love.
Oh, but that's so tough. I'll be honest (and you should be too): there are times where it feels kind of good to not like somebody. That annoying person in your office who steals your parking spot, the mother who lets her kids run all over Wal-Mart with sticky ice cream hands, the driver who just cut you off and forced you to slow down so that you could avoid a 9 car pile-up on the highway, the flamboyant gay receptionist who makes subtle passes at you, the _________ (fill in the blank) that just seems to continue to cross your path and get in the way. ALL of those people are meant to be loved. Though we can't love every single person in the world, we are called to love every single person in our world.

Verse to Remember: Luke 10:27- "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Who is our neighbor? The better question is: who ISN'T our neighbor?

Question to Consider: Who is the person in my life I need to take the risk to love?
There are a handful that I can think of, but one in particular sticks out in my mind as a person that I really messed up with and now need to fix that relationship rather than avoiding it. Rather, I need to allow God to fix my end of the relationship, and whatever He wants to happen will happen, and that will be the best for both of us. It's just finding that willingness to let Him work it out. . .