HELPING or HARMING?... Sunday

Devotional for 6/22/14

How and when should we help other people?  Or how much should we help and how many times?  These are questions with which many of us struggle in order to find the right balance.  It is not always a simple answer, and each individual will have to decide for themselves how far to go to help others.  However, there are certain Bible verses and principles to keep in mind that can be helpful.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4 (ESV)

These verses tell us two things: to not act in order to bring positive attention to ourselves or because we think we are better than others, and to remember to take care of ourselves as well as others, not at our own expense nor forgetting others. We have to take care of ourselves in order to be healthy and able enough to help others.  Christ did this when throngs of people sought him out for healing when they heard of his miracles.  He took time out for his own renewal through prayer so that he could serve the Father well:

Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.  But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.  Luke 5:15-16 (NIV)

Another thing to consider is whether our helping is actually harmful to the other person in any way.  Is our help enabling someone to remain in their troubles? Is it trying to do for them what they should be doing for themselves and thereby taking over their responsibilities?  Are we trying to rescue someone who has no intention of changing their ways, and since they don't suffer the consequences will they therefore end up in the same or a worse situation?    

A hot-tempered person must pay the penalty; rescue them, and you will have to do it again. Proverbs 19:19 (NIV)

Then when is it a good thing to help others?  When we are helping another person with a burden way too heavy for any one person alone to bear and which came upon them through no fault of their own.  Or when we unselfishly help them learn to resolve their own issues and become healthier physically, emotionally or spiritually in order to carry their own load.

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.  Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.  ^{Galatians 6:2-5 (NIV)}  

So these are the things we consider when deciding about helping someone else: 1) whether our motive is pure, 2) whether it is healthy for us, 3) whether it is healthy for them, and 4) whether it helps them grow.  In this way we establish healthy boundaries. But most importantly, what we do needs to reflect the love of Christ for both ourselves and others, witnessing to his great mercy and love for all.

written by Jan Andersen

The most important help that one can receive is from God...we need to be careful not to put ourselves in the way of perfect help