How Can I Help?
Think about the last time someone was kind to you. Kindness is one of the most powerful forces on earth, and serving other people can transform someone’s life for good.
All of us have the ability to do good for someone, and God has gifted each of us with special abilities and talents that can be used to serve other people in our lives. Whether it’s a spiritual gift or a learned skill, you have unique opportunities to show kindness to those in need.
Paul, the writer of the letter to the Galatians, is careful to note that we won’t always have the opportunity to do good for others. We cannot know how many days we have left on earth, and we certainly don’t know how long certain people will be in our lives. That’s why we should make sure we use every opportunity we have to encourage and help others.
Serving and helping others is a form of love. When we take the time to help someone, we are allowing them to experience the love of Jesus through us. Doing good for someone opens the door for conversations about the love that Jesus has for them.
Paul also says that we should help those who are believers. That is because those who are believers are our spiritual family. Just as we ought to care for our relatives, we should also look for opportunities to love those who are part of the Church.
How has God gifted you with talents and abilities to serve others? Take some time to think about a few people in your life that you can help. Maybe it’s letting them know you’re thinking of them, or maybe it’s helping someone with a need they have. In any case, be on the lookout for ways that you can do good to all people as you go about your day.
Sacrificial Love
Jesus, all powerful and completely perfect, chose to give up His life for us. He willingly went to the cross to be crucified, the most painful death imaginable, because He loved us so much.
And He invites us to do the same.
1 John 3:16 tells us, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters."
How can we demonstrate this kind of sacrificial love in our own lives? How can we give our time, attention, or resources to help someone in need? Are we intentional to listen and be present for others, even when it's not easy or comfortable? Are we willing, if it comes down to it, to give up our lives for the sake of God and others?
This kind of love is challenging. It asks us to look beyond our own needs and to see the needs of others. It calls us to be selfless. The good news is, Jesus isn’t asking us to do anything for someone else that He wasn’t willing to do for us first. He knows ...
“And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them. And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Cæsar, or no? But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me? Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Cæsar's. And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which be Cæsar's, and unto God the things which be God's. And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.”
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