The Right Way to Help Others

“Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.” Luke 7:12-13 (underlining added)

“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.” Luke 10:33-34 (underlining added)

Know what Jesus and the so-called Good Samaritan had in common? They both went to extremes to help others, right? If you’ve studied Jesus’ miracles and know the story of the Samaritan who gave of his heart, time, care, and money to help a man in dire need, the answer is clear, right? They went to exceeding lengths to help others. But that’s not all. What they had in common above all else is what we need to hold up as a measuring stick when we examine our hearts and lives in the area of helping others. They had compassion.

Seems compassion should go without saying when it comes to helping others, right? Wrong. We can do the right thing with the right heart, but we can also do the right thing with the wrong heart. We can help others merely to “do a good deed”, to feel good about ourselves, to get pats on the back, to get something in return, to cross something off on our to-do lists, etc. Our actions, then, are not motivated by love and compassion. And even when we may have the right motive of loving God and others, we may help others with cold and distant hearts, pride, bitterness, complaining, self-pity, nonchalance, judgment, etc. God doesn’t just see our actions; He sees our hearts, including our motives and attitudes!

Jesus modeled to us the right way to help others. With a heart full of love and compassion.

Are your motives and attitude pleasing to God when you help others?