Compassion for Others

God asks us to treat others with compassion

How we treat others is a testament to our faith.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan is a story Jesus told about showing mercy to others.  In the parable, an apathetic person passed by a man in need (who was beaten and left for dead).  The first man who encountered the victim didn’t stop to help, because he saw a priest nearby and assumed the priest would help.  But the priest also went by.  Then a Samaritan walked by and felt compassion for the man.  During this time period in history, there was no such thing as a “good” Samaritan as far as the culture was concerned.  But this Parable helps us understand the arrogance of the time and why God commands us to love one another.

The Moral of the Story:  Don’t allow your heart to be hardened toward others.

Q & A - Understanding this parable

1/ Who is our neighbor?

· Anyone and everyone, especially those in need.  Do you agree that compassion for others is a necessary way to live under God’s law?

2/ Do we treat the neighbors we don’t care for differently than we treat the neighbors we like?

· Unfortunately many of us do.  This is unfair to victims when we consider that God’s expectation is for us to love everyone and demonstrate compassion when someone is need.

3/ How far are we willing to go to help a neighbor in need?

· The Good Samaritan ran the entire race.  He poured wine on the man’s wounds (an antiseptic) as well as oil (pain reliever), bandaged the man’s wounds, paid for his hotel, and told someone to charge all other expenses to him (the Good Samaritan).  He went above and beyond and God asks us to do the same.

4/ Does God really expect us to love everyone, especially those who have hurt us?

· The challenge is aligning our conscience with our hearts.  What does your heart tell you?  Our conscience and our hearts should tell us to demonstrate love for our fellow man.

· When we look at the Parable of the Good Samaritan, it is obvious the Samaritan expanded the definition of “neighbor!”  He didn’t make any excuses.  And he didn’t allow race or religion to stop his concern.   The same should be true of us.  Our love for Jesus allows us to help others because God loves every single human being.

5/ When we share our faith, are we to share it with everyone?

· Satan and sin have beaten us up in the world and the greatest need out there is to let people know they have a Savior in Jesus Christ.  We share our faith not to insult, but to love everyone so they, too, can have eternal salvation.  We share the truth of God’s word with love, not hate or condescension. We should be winsome disciples.  The Parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us to love others and to treat them equally.

The 2 Most Important Commandments

God asks us to love Him and to love our neighbors.  These are the 2 commandments that are critical to eternal salvation. 

When these two commandments are precisely followed, the other 8 of the 10 Commandments fall into place.  All are based on these two most important commandments:

· 1/ The Lord our God is the one and only God.  You must love Him with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind and all of your strength.

· 2/ You must love others as much as you love yourself.

A Final Thought

What will YOU do next time you see a person in need?  Meeting the genuine needs of others is accomplished through faith, with love and compassion (knowing that God loves you equally with the person in need and so He asks you, in turn, to love other people because He loves them).

The Good Samaritan refused to allow inconvenience to limit his sacrifice.  He was busy but still met the man’s need.  This is the example we are asked to follow.

Your actions will either help further the Kingdom of God out in the world, or it will help you blend into a godless culture, one that has removed God’s law and replaced it with whatever is popular at any given time.

Be God’s friend and love others as He does.  Faith allows us to see that this is the right thing to do for the world.