What Others Need

When we are going through a situation or have something on our minds, we tend to spend time thinking about the solution or the event which led up to it. We may even share our issues with others to get their feedback or to try and think about things out loud. It’s good to have someone to talk to who will listen and give support rather than give us negative feedback.

Having someone to confide in is comforting and we usually go to those people in our time of need. We go to them when we have something to share, good or bad. We go to them because we find they are consoling when we need it help, supportive when we need encouragement and understanding when we feel mistreated.

It is great to have someone to go and talk to anytime; however, we need to take a look at ourselves to be sure we aren’t too focused on our needs all the time and we take time to see what others need. We need to be a person who is willing to listen. We need to be one who is able to support and encourage. We need to be a person who can be honest with another person no matter what the situation is.

We need to be one who is willing to step up and tell another person he or she needs to reconsider their actions when what they are doing is not in line with what God wants them to do. We all have friends who may be going down the wrong path in life. We know people at work or in our communities who tend to make decisions which are not wise decisions.

James 3:17-18 “But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.”

It is easy to support and encourage those people who are doing the right things and honoring God. It is easy to support those who are working toward the goal God wants them to do. It is easy to support those people who live right and are making a difference in their life and the lives of others. When these people come to us with a problem, they already know the right thing to do but just need someone to share with before doing it.

However, the people who come to us to talk about the things of the world and how they have tricked or lied to someone to get what they want are the people God is sending to us to help. Of course, no one is going to walk up to us and say they tricked someone into getting what they wanted, stole from the company or contemplated having an affair with someone but the conversations they have with us will tell us what temptations they are dealing with and what they may be considering to do about it.

That is when we need to step up and look at what God wants us to do and say to them. We need to listen carefully to the message they are giving us and pray asking God what message He wants us to give them. We have to be careful about how we word the things we say to them so we don’t come across judgmental. We have to be sure the words we use are what God wants us to use.

When we take time to really listen to what others have to say and discover their actions are not what would be pleasing to God, it is our duty to speak out and help them reconsider what they are doing. It is our job to be the one who is God’s messenger to them. We can gently remind them what the Bible says and help them to return to living in a way that is pleasing to God so they can make a difference.

Galatians 6:1a “Dear brothers and sisters, if another believe
is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path.”