Luke 10:29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
Justifying Ourselves
Justifying ourselves and being self-righteous does not work with God. This Pharisee was trying to justify his actions in not helping his neighbor out. If he could put certain people into the neighbor category and leave others out, he figured he would be okay. Certainly a Samaritan would not qualify as a neighbor. They were just scum. Only a Jew could qualify as a neighbor in his mind and then maybe only Jews he thought worthy of being around. Jewish Publicans and sinners would be another group he would leave out of the neighbor category. Once this Pharisee limits the people he would help, the amount of help he would give would likely be very limited.
Who We Will Help
Before we get too critical of this Pharisee, we likely have limits of who we will help and how much we will help them. We are quick to justify our reasons behind helping others and the decisions we make each and everyday. We all have limits and we justify our limits. The problem is God does not necessarily want us to limit ourselves. We need to be open to helping those who the Lord wants us to help, even if they are a half-breed Samaratin that we may not necessarily like. I would also say we need to be open to NOT helping some the Lord does not want us helping. Our self-righteousness is something the Lord despises. It will often limit you in the work of God. When you realize that you are not all that great, then the Lord can use you. We will then help whoever the Lord desires. Being self-righteous does not please the Lord. Why don’t you admit your prejudice and be willing to help whoever the Lord wants you to help and not try justifying your actions.
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