Our Role as a Good Samaritan - Essay Example

An act of generosity towards a friend or acquaintance that may be hungry, ill, or in need of mental comfort would certainly be an act of a Good Samaritan. Life asks us to respond to the needs of people who may be physically disadvantaged, elderly, or poverty-stricken. While offering all the charity we can to anyone in greater need than ourselves may not be practical or realistic, volunteering for an event to help the disadvantaged that live in your community is an act we all have the resources to do.

We can take our Saturday afternoon and spend it mowing the lawn for someone who is not physically able. The act of doing a good deed is more important than trying to define the magnitude of the act. Being a Good Samaritan is being there, for anyone in need, with help and kindness when it is needed.The true Good Samaritan will not gauge whether the recipient of their charity is a friend, foe, neighbor, or stranger. The person need only be measured by their situation and their need. Helping a starving child in an unfriendly part of the world is as virtuous as helping an accident victim by the side of the road.

We don't consider the politics of the person in need as we humbly, and without fanfare, try to better their situation. Our measure of good is not who they are, but who we are. Our own self-love and self-absorbed attitude is an obstacle that often stands in our way of being a Good Samaritan. Self-centered and petty emotions prevent us from helping someone we perceive as different from ourselves, or even unfriendly. When we say that we are too busy to help, take notice of how we spend our time.

If we are unable to take a shut-in a hot meal, because we are too busy watching a movie, this may be an indication that we have not understood the spirit of being a Good Samaritan. If you can't afford a charitable donation to a sick child because the payment on the BMW is due, you may need to look for transportation that is less vain. Your self-absorbed nature is blinding you and stealing your opportunity to "love thy neighbor" and be a Good Samaritan. Being a Good Samaritan is not merely doing a good deed when the opportunity conveniently presents itself.

It is a proactive act of kindness and generosity that asks us to selflessly give of ourselves for the benefit of anyone. The acts of kindness and charity we show will not be judged by the nature of the goodness of the person in need. Who we are, and our willingness to give anything, to anyone, at any time will decide whether we measure up to the meaning of Jesus' parable.