"And who is my neighbor?"

Wow, my heart is so heavy with this message that I must pass it on. Many of you will be familiar in some way or another with "The Parable of the Good Samaritan" but for those of you who may not be here it is.

Luke 10: 25-37 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you           read it?" He answered, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and          with all your strength and with all your mind', and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself." "You have          answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." But he wanted to justify himself, so      he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from         Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him     and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and          when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place        and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man          was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds,    

   pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took       care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,'     he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' "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."

Ok, great what an awesome lesson right? Be the good Samaritan, be the one who stops and helps, go out into the world and make a difference. Well not exactly. You see when we read this parable the "obvious" lesson is for us to be good people and help one another. The not so obvious lesson and the one the world is struggling with daily is the question of "And who is my neighbor?" You see it is all good and well for you to read the parable and say "Let's be great!" But the problem lies in questioning who your neighbor is. In the parable the expert in the law asked that very question. Why did he ask that? Well, because people in general are always trying to do the bare minimum or find the loop hole in everything. So after stating that the law says to love your neighbor as yourself, he and in my opinion the world today, was still trying to find a way out. A reason, a loop hole to do the bare minimum, and to not truly love your neighbor as yourself but instead only to love some people as yourself. Well the point of my blog today is to tell you that Everyone is your neighbor. The point of "The Parable of the Good Samaritan" aside from the obvious lesson is to also highlight and point out the Sin of Partiality. Yes, the Sin of thinking some people are worth loving as yourself and others are not. Maybe because of race, economic status, position, power, beauty...the list goes on. When we place a higher value on some lives we too are sinning. This saddens me and for that reason I am sharing this message with you. I hope that it will touch your heart, wake you up to maybe something you aren't proud of in yourself and cause a change. EVERYONE is your neighbor. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Thank you for the amazing and inspiring message from Grace City in Lakeland. If you are looking for an awesome church I highly recommend them. Last night John Lorenzo gave this message and it was on my heart to pass it on to you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ3yjEu6bj0

Thanks for reading. I am Sally and this is "Where I Find Myself".

@SallyWIFM IG SallyWIFM