“The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”  Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.””

“Like a good neighbor…”  If you are reading this and can complete the jingle, then you know that State Farm Insurance tells us that a good neighbor is always there for us.  Oh, if only that was true.  As much as we want to believe that the person on our team will treat someone else on the team like the neighbor they are supposed to be, or the companies that we share our building with will take care of the common areas like we do, or that we won’t need to argue over shared resources or budgets within our own company, we will and we do have to face the facts that sometimes our neighbors are the most difficult to work with, whether they be the neighbors that we define as “next door” to where we live or the cubicle on the other side of the hallway.  Tonight, in another part of our large world, the opening ceremony of The Olympics will happen, also defining for us who are our neighbors.  Our consideration should be that all are our neighbors.  That each person we meet, work with, reside around and come into contact with are our neighbors.  If we start there then those who are most close to us should feel the extra attention and support from us.

Jesus was clear when He affirmed the mercy that the Good Samaritan showed as the definition of loving our neighbor.  We are in a time where we don’t often show mercy or grace to others.  So much so today that when someone does, it stands out clearly to others.  Can we commit today to show mercy and grace to someone and do so in the name and love that is Jesus?  If we can, then we are living up to the standard of truly being a good neighbor.

Reference:  Luke 10:37 (New Living Translation)