May I Help You?

OK, this falls into the Soapbox category. I have lots of very helpful friends. Of course, this is a huge blessing to me, my church, and my community. What do I need a soapbox for? Well, it's like this, I have found that often, the most helpful people are also those least likely to ask for help themselves. By now they have all heard my speech. It goes like this:

Me: "Do you enjoy helping your friends?"
My friend: "Of course."
Me: "Does it make you feel good when you help someone out?"
My friend: "Yes, very much so."
Me: "Then why to you refuse to allow your friends to share that feeling?"
My friend: ...silence...

So many people are too proud to ask for help. I understand this feeling, and I have certainly felt and acted this way in the past. But if you truly care about your friends, let them bear some of your burdens, as you have borne for them. Give them the opportunity to share the wonderful feeling you love so much. Our Christian teaching to love others means that sometimes, we can let others help us, even those we may not know. This might be very hard for some. After all, it means letting your guard down. Ouch.

I might be accused of being selfish for this. Of course, sharing the burden means that sometimes we bear it, and sometimes others bear it for us. You can not expect to hide behind this philosophy and never lift a finger. As I said above, this is speech is almost always given to people who are already the most helpful.

If you need any more convincing, how about this: letting your guard down, giving in just a little, admitting you need a little help, these are all just good practice at being Christian. If you can't give in just a little to an earthly friend, how are you going to give it all to your ultimate friend, Jesus, the King of Kings?

Shalom.