Being a good Samaritan

Hi.......
Have you ever come across people who think they are very "Holy" and feel they will lose their holiness if they stopped by to shake hands
with you or talk to you?
In their eyes you may not look important,
so they will walk past you as if they never knew you.
But thank God for Jesus Christ our Lord, He loves us all the same!
The Samaritans were people living in Samaria, who felt they were descendants of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (Joseph's sons).
But the Jewish view was they were descendants of foreign captives brought from places like Babylon etc, and settled in Samaria by the King of Assyria.
2 Kings 17:24 Samaria Resettled "24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns."
Though the Samaritans were despised, we see our Lord Jesus reach out to the Samaritan woman.
John 4:7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?"

She was surprised because no respectable Jewish man would stop by to talk to Samaritan woman like her who lived in sin. But Jesus Christ our Lord did stop by. The good news is for all men/women. Jesus came to save the lost and He crossed all barriers to share His love and the gospel. We have to be Imitators of Christ.
Galatians 5: 1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
In Luke 10 Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, when a Lawyer wanted to know who will inherit the Kingdom of God.
Luke 10: 25

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" 27 He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself." 28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." 29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coinsand gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' 36"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" 37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

Here the priest avoided the wounded man, the Levite did not want to help but the Samaritan treated him with love. Let us not look down on a fellow pilgrim, pass by a struggling believer, avoid the fallen, thinking, "I'm holier than you, I can't touch you."
(1 Corinthians 13: 1-13)
Let the love of Christ always rule and reign in our hearts. 
Julia