You may be familiar with the “Parable of the Good Samaritan.” (Luke 10:25-37) Jesus was explaining what has become known as “the great commandment” (“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.’”)

An expert in the Law tried to test Jesus and justify himself by then asking “And who is my neighbor?” As an illustration, Jesus then shared a parable of a Samaritan who helped someone in need, to explain by example of what it means to love your neighbor.

Most of the time, when we think of “who is my neighbor,” we see this to mean anybody we may encounter in life, or the people in our community, the people all around us who are worthy of our taking the time to love them. That basically includes everyone since God loves everyone, no exceptions.

Thinking about this question “who is my neighbor” a bit more, we might see the answer as something deeper than just identifying a person.

Let’s say, for example, Bob is a neighbor down the street. You know his name. You know what kind of car he has parked in his driveway, and you know he likes to cook on his grill almost every Saturday, but that’s about it. Who is your neighbor? Well, it’s Bob.

But the deeper “Who is my neighbor” question is “Who is Bob?” Really. Who IS Bob that lives down the street. There is a difference between knowing about someone and knowing someone.

It takes more time to get to know who Bob really is, to find out he’s recently divorced, that he lost custody of his two kids, that he struggles with depression, hates his job, gets drunk every weekend, feels very lonely, and his parents used to take him to church, but he hasn’t been to a church in years, and doesn’t really know whether he believes in God.

So, while you could answer the question “Who is my neighbor?” and just say it’s Bob, the real key in loving your neighbor is to ask the question “Who is Bob?”

Sometimes loving your neighbor may be as simple as extending a hand of friendship, or a smile and an encouraging word. Sometimes loving your neighbor means taking the time to get to know your neighbor and hear their story.

Either way, love your neighbor.