Giving Others What I Need the Most

 Key Verse: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.” Luke 10:30 NKJV

This road called life is often a hard road to travel. People that walk along beside us can be hard to deal with, distant, and even downright mean at times. Often the very ones walking closest to us are the ones who have caused us the most pain. Others can beat us up with hurtful and judging words and then walk away and leave us with wounded bleeding hearts. 

The man portrayed in the familiar passage involving the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37 knew what it was like to suffer this kind of hurt. 

Luke 10:30 reads: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.” 

 

Sometimes I have wondered what would have happened to this poor man if the Good Samaritan hadn’t come by when he did? 

When I read scripture, I always try to put myself in the story. Sometimes when I read this passage of scripture, I have been the Lawyer talking to Jesus wanting to set my own boundaries of service. Wanting to serve only where it would be best for me. Make me look shiny and new on my Instagram story or relatable on my FB feed. A place where I can minister to others but only to the point that I never leave myself exposed.  Never let anyone actually know I battle too or have failed. 

Sometimes I have been the man among the thieves that have been wounded and hurt. I know what it is like to feel like no one even notices you are hurting and worse yet that they even care. 

I am not proud to say that other times I have been both the priest and the Levite who see the poor suffering man and pass by on the other side of the road. Life is too busy and full of my own problems to stop and give aid to another. 

And yet other times if I am brutally honest, I have cruelly been one of the thieves that have caused the pain and wounding. I have beaten up someone with a hurtful word stripping them of their joy and peace.  I’ve been the one that has taken something of value from them like friendship or understanding. Choosing to instead serve my own interest and then walk away.  

I think if we will dig way down deep into our hearts we can admit the same. If we all drop our stones of judgment we can admit that on our worst days we can be any one of these people in the story. Apostle Paul said it best when he told us “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”.  Romans 3:23 (KJV)

So who was this Good Samaritan that did the right thing? Where did he come from and where did his big heart of compassion come from? 

 

Surprisingly, after taking a closer look perhaps it came from some suffering of his very own.  

A person who must have felt the ache of being judged and misunderstood.  Many times being looked over and avoided because they weren’t good enough or part of the in-crowd. After all, the Jews didn’t associate with Samaritans. They were only half Jewish.  They fell short of being worthy of respect. Worthy of a kind word of acceptance.  

A person who walked the same life road as everyone else but maybe had known what it was like to be avoided and passed over.  

A person that perhaps has longed to have someone pour healing into them and pour in some oil of gladness and wine of comfort to them in their hour of need. Someone to be their friend and put in some deliberate time to make sure they were ok. 

I’ve felt more like the man at the side of the road lately. Our family has faced more than its share of hardship. But I decided despite feeling knocked down and stripped of some joy and understanding of my own this week, that I would step out and be a Good Samaritan. After all, Luke 10:30 says that the Samaritan too stopped to care for this hurting man “as he journeyed”. I am sure he had “life situations” going on of his own but he still took the time to help someone else. 

So, I put in some deliberate time to lift up, dust off, check on, and encourage others in the midst of my own bumpy and less than pleasant road this week. 

What I discovered is that being a Good Samaritan just made me feel better. It didn’t change this rocky road I’m still walking out, but when I began pouring out encouragement to someone else hurting God led someone else to pour some much-needed encouragement back into me. 

 

 

Jesus set the perfect example of the Good Samaritan. Giving so freely of himself. Even so far as to be thinking of us with compassion and love while suffering death on the cross. He bound up all our wounds and poured in to us oil and wine bringing healing from the inside out. He has never left any of us beaten down and stripped of dignity, respect, and love. And he never will. 

Yes, life is hard. But even on my hardest days, I can still minister to others because he first ministers to me.  I never pour from an empty cup because the more I pour out the more he pours in.  Even when my heart aches for encouragement, I can still reach out to encourage someone else. 

I challenge you to try this……you may just discover that the person that gets ministered to is you.