Discussion last week was about how loving each other reveals who God is. This week, we turn our attention to
If you are just reading "FINDING GLORY Wednesdays" for the first time, we hope you will join the conversation which is based on Finding Glory in the Thorns resources. We hope you’ll share your ideas and perspectives whether you have been a past reader or not.
Today’s scripture and discussion questions are:
"No one has ever seen God; but if we love each other, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us." 1 JOHN 4:12-16
How can sharing your pain — talking about it, asking for help, giving help, etc. — be ways of expressing godly love?
In what ways might God be leading you or your family to ask for some help? In what ways might your seemingly selfish request actually result in positive things for someone else?
For more information about Finding Glory Groups, visit http://www.findingglory.com/findingglorygrou.html.
I'm going to chime in today because there's been a cultural tragedy on my heart a lot lately which relates to this issue of "doing life together." I don't want to take us off track or trigger a negative tone of discussion. But I think something I've been mulling is worthy of discussion here.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of things that cause us great hesitation when it comes to asking for help but one of them is simply about how busy people are. We don't take TIME to ask (we just press on in crisis-reaction mode) and we don't PRESUME anyone has time to come alongside of us.
So many people today (myself included) are craving relationships with depth and yet no one seems to have time to invest in what it takes to accomplish that. But all throughout the Bible we see the value of slowing down and going deep. Jesus modeled it. The book of Acts shows how the early church did it.
I'm praying today the God would break the grip of things in our lives that create obstacles to deep, loving, Christ-centered relationships where giving and receiving help is the NORM. I constantly have to check myself to see if certain things are getting in the way of my having more satisfying and godly friendships — things like fear, pride, resentment, a competitive spirit, wrong priorities, etc.
I never want to let a friend down, especially my closest friends, because I am too busy to serve, bless and at least LISTEN to them in their crisis. I figure that if I don't have time or energy to listen with empathy, something in my life needs radical re-adjustment!
Very well said. I have had a problem myself with this very thing. With the deep needs everyone has with the devastation in Minot ND with the flooding I had vowed to do more. I walked dogs at the center, gave donations of money, clothes etc, I made a new friend who lost her home and I volunteered to take her out to lunch some day or help her in some way and new heard back. I felt, though, I should go and help with the Salvation Army canteen. It just never seem to work out. I wondered that very thing but the gals at Bible study told me last nite that sometimes we can not save the world either. So this is a reverse situation. sometimes we can spread ourselves too thin. How do we know when we are over extending even though we are doing great things? Well, I for one have learned that if I seem to start feeling edgy then I need to step back and prioirtize. I can over extend very easily and with 4 people living in this house it does not take long. I have three guys who farm and put in long hours and if I am not there to provide a good meal and take care of things to make the home run smoothly then I need to back off. The gals last nite reminded me that I live 40 miles away from Minot so it is not so close either. This is something we each have to examine in our lives and best decide can I do more or when is enough?
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