Ouch! Daddy, I hurt my leg helping him!” I promptly inspected my son’s upper left-leg and
pronounced a diagnosis and prognosis: “it’s just a small scratch…go clean it up and you’ll be fine.”
On the way to the bathroom my son remarked (more to himself really) “man…helping hurts!”
No truer words have ever been spoken.
My home is old because it was built in 1900! It feels that I’m constantly doing some sort of maintenance or construction. Many years ago, during an early remodel of my son’s bedroom my son had taken to hanging out with the crew and helping. He hurt himself by missing the wood he was nailing on and grazing his leg. Yikes!
Helping is Hazardous
Helping is always a hazardous thing to do—with construction or just in life in general. The safest thing to do is to just focus on you, but aren’t you glad that Jesus didn’t do that? If He did, we’d all still be forever lost.
Jesus made it clear that His focus was helping others: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28, NLT), then it should be ours as well. Yes, I know that it will always put you out and even often hurt as well. But, Jesus is our example, and He told us that we needed to do it, so basically, if you’re a Christian, then you really don’t have a choice.
Messiah’s Marching Orders
Jesus’ marching orders can be found in the New Testament book of Philippians 2:2-8:
Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. Then he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross (NLT).
How Can You Help?
So today, and everyday, ask yourself this: “how can I help somebody else today?” The answer God gives you may be pretty simple or it may be something that you think you could never do—but I’ve learned that if He asks you to do it, then He’ll bring you through it.
Serving Others
September is a unique month in the U.S. because on every September 11, most people celebrate “Patriot Day” in remembrance of the tragic terrorist attack that happened on September 11, 2001. This day has turned into a day of being able to focus on service to others, in remembrance of the many individuals who lost their lives and their families and friends lives who have been forever changed. I’ve included the website in the “Additional Resources” section for you to find and explore creative ideas for service to others—not just on 9/11, but all year long. Realistically, it’s easy to set aside several hours in a day or even one day a week or a month, but it’s more difficult (better, and more healthy) to be more consistent and begin to serve others as a way of life.
Planting Seeds of Service
Take some time to think, consider, pray, and discuss your ideas with your friends and family—and then when that’s done, do something and be consistent! Remember, what you do doesn’t have to be big, flashy, or have a huge “Wow” factor! You can start and stay small. In fact, Jesus encourages us to not wait until lightening strikes so to speak; Jesus wants us to just do it. You might say that He wants us to plant seeds of service:
“I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible’ “ (Matthew 17:20, NLT).
Whatever you do, just don’t whack yourself with a hammer–that’s the wrong kind of “hurt.”
Additional Resources
