Walking with the Wise #182: Love's Proof

“Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner,

but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.”
—Proverbs 14:21

When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus said,

“The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these”—Mark 12:29-31.

If we love God, then we must love our neighbor. If we fail to love our neighbor, then we are failing on the most rudimentary level in our understanding of God. The most dramatic illustration Jesus ever used to demonstrate God’s desire for us to love our neighbor is the Parable of the Good Samaritan. As Jesus said,

“’A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. Likewise there came a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You go, and do likewise’”—Luke 10:30-37.

In our modern world, we miss the sting of the parable. A priest and a Levite were both supposed to be the one’s to show love by helping the wounded man, because they had the greatest appearance of godliness. But they failed to do what they should have done. The last example—that of the Samaritan, in the mind of Jesus’ audience, was the least likely to help. Nor, would his help be desired, for he was the one of whom Jews hated. A Samaritan was a half-breed, unclean, heretical group, who only adhered to a portion of the Jewish scriptures. But it was this man who helped the wounded man, at a great personal cost to himself.

Jesus desires that we love our neighbor and help the poor. One of the greatest ways that we can show our love for God is helping those who can’t help themselves such as the poor, widows, orphans, refugees, and disabled and the disturbed. Without doing things such as this, our faith has no value.

How are you loving your neighbor? If your faith doesn’t extend to others then you need to test yourself to see whether or not you are really in the faith. Let God work through you to help others, ask Him to empower you and give you the courage, discernment and wisdom to help others in need so that He might be seen in you. Let us heed the words of Mother Teresa who said,

“At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by ‘I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.’”

Lord, help us to help others. Let us follow the example of the Lord Jesus who humbled Himself to help others in their time of need. Let our religion be as that James taught,

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world”—James 1:27.

Amen.