All eyes were on me, waiting for the moment that I unveiled my gift. The excitement that radiated off my parents’ faces told me that it must be something very special, but I had no clue as to what it could be. It seemed as if the whole world had been waiting for this moment, and now it was here. For a split second, I just stared with amazement at the camcorder box. It was something that I had dreamed of, but never thought I would actually get. Back in October when Dad and I had looked online, I surmised that getting a camcorder for my November birthday was very unlikely. But now, before my very own eyes was a camcorder. It seemed too good to be true, but as I opened up the box and took out the camcorder, reality set in. At that moment, I knew without a doubt that my parents cherished me. Because they loved me, they were empowered to see my desire for a camcorder and fulfill it. That act of love was more than just a memorable gift. It enabled me to see how empowering love can be. I started looking for ways I could help those in need around me. Therefore, my most memorable gift turned into a blessing for others.

I did not realize it until I received my camcorder that when we meet someone’s need, it empowers that person, sometimes to the extent that they start being a “neighbor” to others. Jesus, the Son of God, taught that a neighbor is anyone in need whom I have the ability to help. Jesus was often moved with compassion when He looked around and saw someone’s need. As a result, He was motivated to help them, encouraging them and portraying His love for them. That is the essence of cherishing. The Bible illustrates in many occasions that looking followed by compassion leads to helping, such as the following example: “When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ ” Then He raised her son from the dead. In Matthew 9: 36-38 it says, “When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to the His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.’ ” In essence, Jesus was concerned for the people when he saw their need for a shepherd. Again, in Matthew 9:22, “Jesus turned and saw her. ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ ” The greatest example, however, that the Bible gives us is the parable of the Good Samaritan. When the Samaritan saw the beaten man, the compassion he felt for him empowered the Samaritan to bandage the Jew’s wounds and pay for his care at the inn. The hurting man must have felt cherished, because the Samaritan had cared enough to be a neighbor to him by showing love and helping him in his time of need. Jesus also wants us to cherish our neighbors and help them, because if we had a need, we would want someone to be a neighbor to us. When we cherish someone, it enables us to see their need. As a result, the compassion we feel for them empowers us to help them. Then, we are both encouraged and empowered to overcome obstacles so that we can be a neighbor to those around us.

Unfortunately though, sometimes doing ministry in Jesus’ name means the following things: it usually takes longer than we planned; it generally will cost more than we anticipated; it is generally messier than we anticipated, and it requires a greater determination than we expected.

Yet, do we ever ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?” before we say, “I’m too busy” or “I don’t have enough time”? Usually we do not, because we are too wrapped up in ourselves and how we want to spend our time. We do not want to be late for our appointment, so we do not stop to help pull our neighbor’s car out of the ditch. We say to ourselves when we see someone slip and fall on the ice, “I don’t have the time because my family is waiting for me to come home for supper.” Other times, we complain on our way to visit a widow, “I have more important things to do than sit and talk for several hours.” When we spend all evening making cookies for someone else, we go to bed that night thinking, “If only it had taken two hours less, I could have gotten everything on my list done. But now, I will have to do it tomorrow on my day off.” Even though we all have different “reasons” for not having enough time to help someone, we are actually saying, “I do not have time to serve God.” I guess the best and sometimes the only way to combat those excuses is to tell our soul the truths found in the Scriptures.

Granted, there are sacrifices involved in being a neighbor to someone, but as long as we have the ability to help, we should not hesitate to do so, even if it takes longer than we anticipated. The Bible says, “A man plans his way, but the Lord directs his path.” So often when our planned schedule is going smoothly, bumps in the road appear. Frequently, that unplanned situation was actually God’s tools that He used to direct our path. For example, our family got a late start on a several hour trip, and along the way, we came across an accident that had happened just minutes before. We stopped and were able to give one of the men my mom’s favorite tablecloth to stop his heavy bleeding. When we help someone and have to sacrifice time, the Lord is well-pleased because we were being a neighbor to that person. The time that it took the Good Samaritan to bandage the man’s wounds, take him back to the inn and spend the night was a huge sacrifice because he was on a journey and probably made him late. He would have to travel that section of the road at least three times, making the eighteen-mile journey even longer and more dangerous. However, he overlooked the time and cost, for he knew that to “love your neighbor as yourself” was more important. I personally have found that often in the time that it takes to argue “I have no time”, I could have helped that person and gotten it done much faster. To put it simply, “Stop your fussing” and “Get it done!”

      For some people, though, it is not that easy, because they cannot get past the cost of helping their neighbor. Unless they are able to see others through the eyes of compassion, they do not stop to help, just like the priest and Levite who walked by the beaten man. They hesitate because of the cost, whether it is financial strain, inconvenience, or fear for their reputation. They may say, “I don’t want to get involved”, but actually, they do not want to pay the price. Others grudgingly help people “just because that’s what you’re supposed to do”, but end up resenting it because of the price involved. They see the value of helping others, but complain about the sacrifice, saying, “I wish someone else could do this.” or “I don’t see why helping this stranger has to cost me so much.” They end up forfeiting the reward of serving the Lord when they hesitate to pay the price the Good Samaritan willingly paid. One of the reasons they hesitate might be that they have developed a love of money from concentrating on it too much. The Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith.” Then when they have an opportunity to help their neighbor, they will not want to part with their money to pay the cost of being a neighbor.

Instead, we need to “flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.” These Godly characteristics will enable us to show love to those around us, “expecting nothing in return.(1)” Deuteronomy 11:13 teaches us to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind; and that you should love your neighbor as yourself. It is easy, though, to come up with excuses such as, “What will people think if I do this?” or “I might get hurt or sick if I help this person”. However, Matthew 5:11 says, “Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely on account of Me.” You will have JOY when you put Jesus first, others second, and yourself last. John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this that one lay down his life for his friends.” What would you do if you saw a car stuck in the ditch and no one had stopped? Maybe you have the time, but you do not know the person or you figure that someone else will help them. As you are wondering whether you should stop, you are reminded of the Good Samaritan. He used his own supply of oil and wine on the man’s wounds, and he probably had to use a piece of his own clothing for the bandages. Then, he had to walk back to the nearest inn while the man was riding on his donkey. He did not just leave him there to fend for himself, but stayed to take care of him until the next morning. Not only did the Good Samaritan pay a day’s wage for one night’s stay and care, but he also promised to pay for whatever more was spent when he returned. He is our example of a servant’s heart, looking out for the needs of others, despite the cost. “If one falls down, his friend can help him up, but pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!(2)” Would you help up a person that fell in the mud, though?

Sometimes we go into a situation, aware of the sacrifice of time and money, but not prepared for how messy it will be. We stop in our tracks when we see that we will have to get dirty in order to help a person that has fallen in the mud. We put our own reputation above helping others by saying, “What would my boss say if I came into work with dirt and mud on my dress shirt? He might even fire me for being late and come in looking like I’ve been rolling in the mud.” Would that also be your response if you were the first one to come upon the scene of a bad car accident on your way to your job? Most likely, you would automatically come up with some excuse for not wanting to help for the sake of keeping clean, just like the priest and Levite. Their religious laws strictly forbade them to touch blood, and if they did, they would forfeit their religious duties until they were ritually clean again. We also walk past our neighbor when their situation looks like “a big hornet’s nest”, justifying that if we intervened, their existing problems would only turn into more commotion and chaos. The spiritual dirt that the person in need is carrying deters us from helping them. Their attitudes, old training, and other “baggage” fall like dirt on us, causing our view of them to become clouded.  Only when we wash our eyes with the spiritual water of the Word, will we be able to help them.

Even when we get ourselves into situations that are messier than we anticipated, we should “work at it with all our heart, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord we will receive a reward.(3)” When we keep focused on the Lord, it enables us to serve others no matter how “messy” the situation is. “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave Himself up for us.(4)” “Let us learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, that we may not be unfruitful.(5)” “If a man came into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes also came,” what would you do? Would “you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ but say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool’? Have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? Listen, my beloved brethren, did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He promised to those who love Him.(6)” Therefore, we should not forsake those messy, needful people that come across our path, because they might be one of those whom “He predestined to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ…(7)”As a result, we should “love each other as brothers and sisters, being tenderhearted, and keeping a humble attitude.” When men insult you, “pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called us to do, and he will bless us for it.(8)”

“Yes, I know God will bless me for helping my neighbor, but I don’t feel like it right now. It would only be a big inconvenience.” Because we want the world to revolve around us, we often do not feel or have enough determination to serve others. At times, we dive head first into helping someone, but a few minutes later, we want to give up. We second-guess ourselves and say, “I don’t know if I’ve made the right choice in the first place to help this person. I did not know that it would require this much time, money, and determination. I just feel like giving up and telling this person to do it themselves.” Then we start questioning God, “Lord, why didn’t you tell me that it would be this difficult? I have hardly any energy left now, and I still have a lot more work to do. You tell me to fix my eyes on you, but my eyes are so tired that they don’t want to even stay open. What do I do now, Lord?”

He tells us in Romans 13:8, “Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.” We might then come up with the excuse, “Yes, but I used all my strength to help this person, and look where is has gotten me. Nowhere, except discouraged and tired.” Then the Lord gently reminds us, “Did you ask me for strength or did you try to do it in our own power?” Oh, if only we could get a hold of the truth that we need the Lord to give us the strength to do all things, big and small. However, most of us call on the Lord as our last resort, rather than our first. When our strength and determination is gone, we cry out to God, sometimes even blaming Him for not helping us, when we have not even asked Him. For Psalm 29:11 says, “The Lord will give strength to His people.” Next time, when we have an opportunity to help someone, we need to ask the Lord to give us the strength and willpower. He needs to give us that determination, for our souls will not want to sacrifice the time, money, reputation, and other costs of helping our neighbor. When we are confronted with a difficult situation, our first reaction is to be overwhelmed or confused. However, if we endure and ask for the Lord’s strength, He will bless us for being determined. Therefore, “let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.(9)” The Lord strengthens us to that we can keep on giving, despite the various sacrifices. As a result, God’s love flows through us so that we can meet the pressing needs of our neighbors.

Cherishing the people around us empowers us to see their needs and feel compassion for them, so that we can be a neighbor to them. However, we often make excuses for not wanting to help and complain about the sacrifices involved. Yet, we still consider ourselves the Good Samaritan, not taking into account all the times we have walked past the person in need. When we realize that we are making the same excuses as the priest and Levite, we need to “Stop, Drop, & Roll”. That is, Stop those thoughts by comparing them with the Word of God, Drop them if they are not Godly principles, and Roll with what God says to do in the Scriptures. When we show love to others by being a good neighbor, it makes the person feel important and opens their eyes to the needs of others. If we follow the commandment to love one another and put the interests of others above ourselves, the community around us, and eventually the whole nation will begin to flourish in the love of the Lord  I experienced the empowering effect of compassion when my parents gave me a camcorder for my birthday. Not only did I feel cherished, but I also wanted to share that love with others. For Matthew 20: 28 says, “He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” Why then, do we hesitate to help our neighbors in their time of need if we see that the sacrifice would be greater than the deed?

Scripture References:

(1)- Luke 6:35 ; (2) Ecclesiastes 4: 10 ; (3) Colossians 3:23-24 ;

(4) Romans 15:1-2 ; (5) Ephesians 5:1-2 ; (6) Titus 3:14 ; (7) Ephesians 1:5 ;

(8) 1 Peter 3:8-10 ; (9) Galatians 6:9