A famous author is credited with saying, “It is easier to be enthusiastic about humanity with a capital ‘H’ than it is to love individual men and women, especially those who are uninteresting, exasperating, depraved, or otherwise unattractive. Loving everybody in general may be an excuse for loving nobody in particular.”

There is a lot of truth in that statement. Maybe this is why, when Jesus was explaining what it looked like to love your neighbor as yourself, he told the story of the Good Samaritan. A person going out of his way to help someone that the society of the time said he shouldn’t even bother. The Samaritan personally gave of his time, money, and most importantly got his hands dirty to help a man who, more than likely, looked at him as a second-class citizen.

It can be easy and make you feel good to give money to a charity or help out with a fundraiser of some kind, but when was the last time you got your hands dirty? When was the last time you gave more than time or money? When was the last time you gave of yourself? When was the last time you helped someone personally you knew needed it? Giving of your time and money are good things, but God asked more of us. He asked us to give of ourselves. So let us get our hands dirty and get busy loving our neighbors as ourselves.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” John 13:34