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Health & Fitness

Love Your Neighbor

The day after Communion Sunday, we find in Scripture the story of the Good Samaritan.  In this story, Jesus is asked, "Teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  Jesus asks him if he has read the law and he responds that he has and that it says, "You shall love you God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your strength and with your entire mind.  And you shall love your neighbor as yourself."  The man asks Jesus, "Who is my neighbor."

This is where Jesus tells the story of a man who is beaten by a gang of thieves and left to die.  A Priest saw him and passed on the other side of the road, as did a Levite.  A Samaritan saw him, was filled with compassion and took care of him.

Jesus asked him, "Which of these three were a neighbor to him?"  When he answered the Samaritan, Jesus said yes and that this was how he was to be with people.

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How does this apply in our present day world?

First, let us look at interactions as Christians.  Jesus does not say, only straight people are neighbors.  In addition, he does not say, only treat those like you like neighbors.  Jesus specifically leaves out "what kind" of man was beaten and left for dead.

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What this says is regardless of race, sexual identity, gender, etc., people are your neighbors no matter what.  There is a term for how God sees God's children.  Imago Dei - In God's Image.  All of God's children are made in God's image and all of God's children are neighbors with one another.

We, as God's children, made in the image of God, are to help one another, regardless of anything because we are all the same in God's eyes.

Now you may say... "What about sin?"  Yes, we all sin and that will come up in another message but for now, I will say, have you ever heard God talk about one sin being worse than another?  ALL sin is bad but it does not remove us from that little thing called Grace.

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