Can we talk a little bit more about “Jesus the Time Manager”? It seems to me that knowing we need to engage more in other people’s lives is not enough; we need to know how to develop the skills it takes to listen and care for them. Not that I think caring for others is simply a skill, actually, I believe it is more a mater of an unselfish attitude more than anything else.
It is hard not to be selfless when we are hurting and overwhelmed with our own lives, but when we put our confidence in Jesus’ love and concern for us, we are more apt to hear a friend’s complaint and not compare her difficulties to our own.
The root of all unhappiness is comparison. How helpful is it to tell a friend who is complaining that she has no time that you have even less? We are all given 24 hours in each day and how we spend it is ultimately up to us. So, when a friend needs an ear and her words are only a sounding gong, what should we do?
When I was raising my boys, moms would work together to get the chores done. We had routines of running errands together and taking turns sitting in the car with the children so that checking the mail wasn’t a major event, and we had the time in transport, with children restrained by seatbelts from interrupting us, to listen to and encourage each other.
Now, as I raise my daughter, I find that moms don’t want help, and they are full of anxiety if they are ever asked to help someone else. It seems that vulnerability has become a very ugly thing. It’s a shame, because it is when we are weak that others are allowed to be strong, and when they are weak and let us be strong, that true friendships are formed. The kind of friendships God intended.
Galatians 6:2-5 is a great example of God’s heart on the matter.
Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.
Call me old fashioned, but I think it’s time we got back to living life together and not being so proud.
Thank you, Lord, that you are a God of balance, and that you give us the formula for living a balanced life. Help us to be responsible for our own lives, but also to be vulnerable when we need help with those responsibilities. Keep us from fearing commitment, or of being used. Teach us to help others when their load is too heavy to bear alone, but restrain us from taking their responsibilities for them. Help us Lord, to live a balanced life with your Joy being our strength. Amen
I’m running out to do errands, anyone need to go up town?
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