What Are You Thoughts On Helping One Another?
- Thread starter Glenn
- Start date
I say it's a huge priority as it satisfies "Love your neighbor as yourself" directly and "Love the Lord your God..." indirectly through John 14:15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments"
When you say "One Another" do you mean fellow Christians or anyone at all?
I love offering an ear to listen and some prayer time to a distressed brother and rejoicing with them when it's warrented. Simply buying someone lunch can make a huge difference when they are really struggling with depression, loneliness, or isolation.
As far as helping others goes, in full disclosure, I really struggle with the ministry of hospitality. I feel like I can go out to help others all the day long, but it's really a discipline for me to open my home to someone. I don't know if the root of this is American "castle" ideology or an introverted personality or both or something else. As I look through history, hospitality has been one of the most important and efficacious ways of showing love and ministering to others. Period works through the last millennium echo images of the hospitable Christian that seem more rare today. Hmmm, the priest from the opening of Les Miserables is a good example of that fading type of the hospitable man of faith. When I look toward scripture I don't see much to support my hermit's nature :-(
Rom 12:13
Heb 13:2 I hate to think I've missed out on a divine encounter :-/
1 Pet 4:9 ouch!
and that's a very shallow list!
In as much as we've tried to make it a discipline it's often felt forced or awkward. I really feel like a baby Christian in this. There's got to be some heart attitude or something that needs adjusting, but so far it eludes me. Is this just me or is it the zeitgeist?
When you say "One Another" do you mean fellow Christians or anyone at all?
I love offering an ear to listen and some prayer time to a distressed brother and rejoicing with them when it's warrented. Simply buying someone lunch can make a huge difference when they are really struggling with depression, loneliness, or isolation.
As far as helping others goes, in full disclosure, I really struggle with the ministry of hospitality. I feel like I can go out to help others all the day long, but it's really a discipline for me to open my home to someone. I don't know if the root of this is American "castle" ideology or an introverted personality or both or something else. As I look through history, hospitality has been one of the most important and efficacious ways of showing love and ministering to others. Period works through the last millennium echo images of the hospitable Christian that seem more rare today. Hmmm, the priest from the opening of Les Miserables is a good example of that fading type of the hospitable man of faith. When I look toward scripture I don't see much to support my hermit's nature :-(
Rom 12:13
Heb 13:2 I hate to think I've missed out on a divine encounter :-/
1 Pet 4:9 ouch!
and that's a very shallow list!
In as much as we've tried to make it a discipline it's often felt forced or awkward. I really feel like a baby Christian in this. There's got to be some heart attitude or something that needs adjusting, but so far it eludes me. Is this just me or is it the zeitgeist?
Oh, me, too, for the same reasons as yours but with the additional idea of the woman being on display when hosting. In a marriage, I feel like if the house is not beautiful and perfect, it's the woman's fault. I feel like if the meal is not perfect and beautifully presented, it's the woman's fault. I feel like if everything does not go well, it's the woman's fault. I feel so on display, and I am such an imperfect person. I give up before I begin!! I am a terrible host! And something aLwaYs goes wrong!! Let me tell you about the last time I got brave enough to have guests overnight. They were visiting my husband's church from out of town. They were desperate for people to host them, so we made arrangements for four adult guests, one couple of whom would stay in our spare room and one couple of whom would stay in our camper. One of our couples didn't come, so we didn't use the camper. That Sunday morning, I was awakened by a loud popping outside my bedroom window. Right at it! I called the police and said that I'd heard gun shots. Well, I said, maybe it was fire crackers. They didn't come until the neighbors called. It was gun shots. We were up with the police all morning, as they searched for bullets, bullets holes, and answers. They found one of the bullets that had gone through the back of the camper and lodged in the mattress, right where one of our guests' head would have been if they hadn't decided not to come. I haven't had guests since.
As far as simply helping someone, the spiritual gift of "helps" (KJV) is my gift; just not hospitality -- that scares me silly! My job as the church I work for can be summed up as "helps." I help the pastor, the facility, the people, the neighborhood of the church, people who call, etc.
In that capacity, I have had to learn when to help and when not to help.