Have you ever heard in Sunday school or in conversations with your parents about the two greatest commandments? Jesus says if you do these two things, you will be following all the other commandments too.
They are: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
OK. It’s pretty easy to understand the “love the Lord” part, but what exactly does it look like to love your neighbor?
In the Bible, Jesus was asked a similar question by a religious lawyer who wanted to trick Him into saying the wrong thing. The lawyer asked Jesus: “Who is my neighbor?”
But Jesus knew better, and He told a story about a man who was robbed and injured while traveling on the road. Jesus said that two religious leaders passed the man, neither stopping to help.
Then a Samaritan stopped to help the man and even paid the expenses for him to get well. Samaritans were thought of as enemies at the time.
Jesus then asked the lawyer, “Which of these was a neighbor to the injured man?” The answer was clear — the good Samaritan.
The lesson Jesus shared is just as important today. All people are our neighbors, and while we may not be able to help everyone, we can treat everyone with kindness. So that means as you read about children living in poverty and think about their circumstances, you can treat them like your neighbors by viewing them as people just like you who are greatly loved by God.
Being a good neighbor starts with seeing that God loves the people around you. And when you love God, you can try to love everyone He loves.
Luke 10:25-37
This is the Parable of the Good Samaritan. After you read it, think about a kid who gets bullied or teased a lot. What would you do if that kid needed help?
- Download and finish this My 20 Acts of Kindness planner.
- It can be harder to show kindness to people who act in unkind ways. Ask a parent what you should do or say when someone is unkind to you.
- Ask God to give you ideas for how to help others.
- Pray for sponsored children to know that Jesus loves them.
- Thank God for the people who do kind things for you.
