Today I Choose to Help...

Today I choose to help. To help those around me in whatever ways I can.
I love how the words that I have been studying are all connecting! Yesterday we looked at giving and today it's all about helping! And the word that connects them all...love. We should help because we love. If we love our desire to give and to help will flow out naturally because we care for those around us. But loving others is not easy and we need to ask God to give us the strength and desire to love. We can live out God's kind of love, love that expects nothing in return, if we ask him for help. 1 Corinthians 13:3-7 says, "If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." These are the qualities that we need to live out on a daily basis and we will never be able to do so without God's help. Why? Because these qualities all go against our natural human instincts. Our human nature is self-seeking, impatient, unkind and keeps records of wrongs. We are called to live out the words of Galatians 6:2, "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." We need to help others, care about what they are dealing with in live, give and reach out!
Psalm 46:1 says, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." God is our help and if we are relying on him, we should have the strength to be a help to others.
So, today I choose to look for tangible ways that I can help. There are simple things like holding open a door for someone when their arms are full or picking up the penny that they dropped while paying at the store. Or helping could be bigger, maybe we need to offer financial assistance to someone or sit and listen as they pour out their hearts. Whatever it might be, we should help because we love!
So today, I choose to help.