“Can you do me a favor?” “Could you help me?” “Can you give me a ride?” “Could you help me with some groceries?” “Can you take me to an appointment?” “Can you help me with some paperwork?” Sometimes our phones buzz with yet another text or call from that one friend or family member who reaches out with every need. How do you respond? What’s your reaction? Do you always say yes? Do you struggle to make yourself available? Is it no problem at all to decline their request without any hesitation or consideration?
Sometimes it seems the people who always agree to help are the ones who get asked over and over again. Why do they keep coming back to that person? To take advantage? Maybe. Or is it because there is no one else willing or able to accommodate the need? I realize every case is different, but it’s the response and the motive from the requested party that intrigues me.
What is it about someone that makes you want to seek out their help? I think it’s because they say and show that they don’t mind to help. They don’t make you feel like a burden. They have joy when it comes to serving and helping. I think that is missing in many Christians today. Instead of bearing one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2), we choose to look the other way and leave it to another to bear. We choose self over humility. We choose convenience instead of allowing an interruption.
I don’t want to confuse this with enabling bad behavior in others – that’s another topic for another day. Nor do I want to give the impression that we are to say “yes” to every single demand with which we are presented – that too, is a different topic. Instead, what’s being addressed is the simple act of kindness, servitude, helping one another as you are able. And really, it all boils down to obedience and listening to the Holy Spirit as He guides you and shows you the many opportunities to be the hands and feet of Christ. We are shown countless opportunities to extend the love of Christ to others and be a witness. But we get so distracted and so wrapped up in our own wants and desires, that we often neglect to take hold of those divine appointments the Lord gives us.
When it comes to legitimate requests for assistance, it seems many of us are quick to ignore the calls, and complain instead about the reason for the request. Even if the request is granted, our reaction is often the opposite of joy. The stress is palpable in our voice and the anxiety is easily seen in our actions. Why?
Why are we not cheerful servants? Why are we not willing to inconvenience ourselves and help someone? Christians are called to live, act, and talk different than the rest of the world – in order to be an example to the unbelievers. If we don’t show others how it looks to live like Christ and for Christ, they will wonder why they should believe what we preach – since it doesn’t produce a lifestyle any different than they (as lost people) have. But if we portray a marked difference, they might become curious as to why, and begin to seek out the Truth. We need to show others who Christ is through the way we talk and act.
We need to be intentional. We need to live with purpose. Instead of being lazy or numbing our minds, we need to take hold of the opportunities before us. It really could be as simple as a smile, or holding the door for someone, or returning a shopping cart for another customer. We don’t have to complicate it. However, when it does go beyond a simple act and becomes something that requires more of our time – our response needs prayer and consideration.
Our hearts should be for other people, not against them. There is no room for hate where the Gospel is concerned. This world tries to divide us against each other by telling us, “We help those who help themselves.” That’s horrible advice! It’s not Biblical either. The man at the pool of Bethesda in John chapter 5 was not told by Jesus that He would help him if only he would help himself. Jesus went to the man and helped him – not because the man sought Him out, but because Jesus was moved with compassion to help the man. Jesus knew that man needed salvation, forgiveness of sins. He healed the man without being asked by anyone. He set out to help him on His own. The friends of the paralytic didn’t tell the paralyzed man (Matthew 9:1–8, Mark 2:1–12, and Luke 5:17–26) that they would help him if only he would help himself. They knew he needed help and they sought a way to get him to Jesus. They acted without being asked. The woman in Mark chapter 5 who had been bleeding for 12 years, pulled on Jesus’ cloak, and she was not rebuked by Jesus or called an inconvenience by Him.
Sometimes it’s hard to extend love to others in the form of service because we are selfish. We desire revenge over redemption. Instead of harboring anger toward other Christians for what they did in the past, we should rejoice that they have been set free from their sins. God freely forgives everyone, and so should we.
Human nature is prone to selfishness, whether it is with our time, money, food, material items, or even with our own family. Jesus keeps on giving everything, and that’s hard for us to understand because we want to feel justified in our reasoning. The only reason we should need for generosity is love, which we should not withhold from anyone. In a world where true brotherly love and kind generosity are scarce, we should be the source of these things for others, even if no one shows it back to us, because Christ showed us how to be when He died for us.
Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
We are commanded to obey, but we are told to do so humbly. The motive and condition of our hearts is what God looks at – not how over-the-top we act in our obedience. We can be obedient and still have self-centered hearts, but God calls us to put ourselves aside in our obedience so that everything we do is done to glorify and point to Him alone.
One of the defining characteristics of believers is that we are “givers.” We don’t give because it was an original idea we came up with. We give because Jesus taught us to give. So many times throughout Scripture, the Lord gave wisdom, refuge, strength, peace, eternal life, and His own life, among other things. Many times, we only give at Christmas or birthdays. Giving isn’t just reserved for those special times; it is all throughout a Christian’s life. Without God’s gift to us, we would have no hope; therefore we should live not desiring anything other than to give everything we have and are back to Him so that others may receive the same gift.