So, I just recently thought of something I could write about.
Just a little while ago I was talking to an old friend and something just kind of hit me. I've been seeing something in my life that God has really been changing in me, and it's something that I think is really important. A lot of times in life, especially as Christians, we kind of see the need to "fix people" or to teach people the difference between right and wrong. We take this responsibility upon ourselves to help people in life by teaching them and guiding them. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that. But, sometimes I think we kind of do it in the wrong way. I see a big difference between helping people, and helping people. Yes, they are the same words, but I think the meanings are very different.
One way we help people, is by telling them what's right and what's wrong. When they do something that we know is not going to work out, we tell them that it's wrong. If we see something in another's life that we don't like or something that we know is wrong, then we tell them. We take our position in life as a Christian in a way where we have to help direct people in life. We kind of make it our job to show people the path they should take in order to live a "good" life. This is one way of helping people. Through my life, this plan hasn't always worked. With this kind of "help" I may be pushing this person out of my life. Sometimes, we may be farther ahead in life of the people around us. We may see things that they don't, and even if we do it out of care, I don't think that it's our place to tell them what they can't see yet. We put ourselves above them, and maybe even above God. Instead of letting God reveal things to them in His time, we push Him aside, by doing it ourselves. This may not always work.
Another way of helping is the one that I am trying very hard to work on. This is help through love and care. If I see something in someone's life that I think is wrong, or something that I think may not end up as they want it to, I don't tell them. I decide that it's not my place to correct them, but instead, I show love and support for their decisions. Obviously, in some cases, this may bot be the best decision, but for me, I think it's more important to show love for a person and support their decisions, rather than telling them they are wrong. I think that may be one thing about Christians that others don't like. We try to hard to fix everybody else. We try so hard to lead everyone in the right directions, instead of just loving people. We push God to the side and try to do His job. But this isn't our job. We just need to love people and care for them, and let God lead their lives.
I think that helping people through love and support is much more effective than just telling them they are wrong. Because honestly, people don't need to hear that they are wrong, and they may not take it as advice, but an attack. It's easy to lose friends by trying to direct their lives. Even in families, we have to be careful. We all have differnet feelings and we're all at different places in life. What we see in someone else, they may not see themselves. It's easier to just love them and support them, then to try and "help" them in another way.
By caring, loving and supporting, you are letting God shine through your life, instead of pushing God to the side and trying to do His job. He will change people in His timing. We can just love them.
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