Neighbor

If our English word "neighbor" had stuck to its etymological roots, determining who our neighbor is might have been a bit easier. "Neighbor" is derived from a German word that was a compound made up of "near" and "dweller, especially a farmer." In other words, in centuries-ago Germany, a nahgabur was someone, likely another farmer, whom you knew because he lived near you.

But when Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan, He established a definition even older than Europe's Middle Ages. Your neighbor is not someone who necessarily lives near you, nor does it have to be someone with whom you are acquainted.

According to Jesus in Luke 10:25-37, my neighbor is any person who has a need that I am able to meet. Jesus made the point in His parable that the man the Good Samaritan helped was a stranger—not a "near-dweller." Yet the Samaritan assumed the responsibility for doing everything he could to help.

Today we think of neighbors as those who live on our street or in our neighborhood. Yet, using Jesus' definition, we have many more neighbors than those. We need to broaden the boundaries of our neighborhood to include the whole world.

If my heart is right with God, every human being is my neighbor. Oswald Chambers