Be Willing to Offer Help –
None of us mind offering help to a point, but what happens when you hit that point?
Do you feel like an enabler? Do you feel used? Do you want to run? Or, do you feel like helping that other person out until the task is complete? What should you do?
Any time that you want to help someone, you will want to be careful from the start that you are not enabling. Takers do not mind your giving to them of your time, money, and talents. Takers are happy to let you be the one that is pulling all the weight. In the end, the goal will fail because the key player was not playing. In a business sense, it’s a bad investment of your resources as neither party is really helped.
On the other hand, you don’t want to cut and run just because you need to give a person more help than you thought would be required. Sometimes it just works out that way. That person is counting on you to do what you said. If that person is in the thick of things and trying to succeed, it’s worth staying on to help them accomplish that. One of the most satisfying things you can experience is helping someone achieve something that they really could not have done alone. You will have made a difference.
God brought many a blessing to me by way of my helping someone else. When you help someone do something that you have not ever done before, you gain a blessing of new knowledge. When you become part of a team, everyone on the team benefits from your knowledge. However, you also benefit from theirs. You can then put this new knowledge to work in your life, business, or ministry.
But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:6-7
This is a reference to charity, but the principle holds across the board. The longer you help someone with something that you know nothing about, the more knowledge you will acquire. Actually, even if you do know something about it, chances are you will learn by any obstacles that need to be overcome.
If you are helping a giver (as opposed to a taker), often that giver will make sure that in the end you’re a winner too! That’s how givers operate.
If you are helping a taker, know that takers are often caught up in the need of the moment. Takers don’t often think about giving. However, remember that you benefited in the knowledge and other things that you gained by helping.
LIFE APPLICATION
Your challenge is to be willing to help. Be a giver of your time, talents, and knowledge even when it may not be convenient to help. Realize that you will see a return because we do reap what we sow.
Still afraid of being used? Actually, there may be times when you will want to let others use you. Think about it. What do you call the mutual using of each other? You could call it a friendship. It might seem or even feel like a family relationship. You could also call it an interdependency.