“Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Luke10:27

            We have all heard the story of the “Good Samaritan” found in Luke 10. Some poor guy gets mugged, beat up, and is lying on the side of the road. Great religious leaders pass him and do nothing. Finally a Samaritan stops and helps him out. Have you ever thought about what happened to the traveler after he got better? Do you think he said, “I should go to church today. Those religious men may not have helped me when I needed it, but I’m sure they had a really good reason”? No way! If he had any doubts about religion that experience would not have helped his faith.  The priest and the Levite ruined their witness by not helping their neighbor.

            Loving our neighbors should be one of our highest priorities. We should constantly be reaching out to others. Teens today deal with so much pressure; many of them don’t know how to cope with it. They end up making bad decisions and going down disastrous paths because they feel like there is no alternative. How lucky we are to have Jesus! We can cast our cares on Him and trust in His wonderful plan for our lives. We know that we’ll make it because God our Father has guaranteed that we will. We have hope.

Shouldn’t we share that hope with our neighbors who are dying spiritually? Simply showing kindness could make a world of difference. Smile at people, talk to strangers, sit with the lonely kids at lunch, share God’s love in every thing you do. Even if you don’t mention Jesus let Him shine through you. Be a Good Samaritan to the neighbors in your life.