The Bible tells us that we should be on the lookout for opportunities to do good things to the glory of the Father. As such, we must love our neighbors and look for opportunities to be a blessing to them:
- To feed the hungry;
- To clothe the naked;
- To visit those who are lonely and imprisoned;
- To heal the sick;
- To love our enemies;
- To preach the Gospel to all people, especially the unsaved.
We are also told to love our brethren, our fellow believers in and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to love the assembly of the saints and share what we have with each other in the spirit of love and unity.
That being said, there will be times when we won't be able to help others. That could happen because we're either busy or simply are unable to help others because we don't have what they need. We have limited resources, and won't be able to help every single person we see.
Developing laser-focus through limited resources
Because we have limited resources, we must learn to choose who to bless and help. There's nothing wrong with this, only that we'd be fair to all concerned. Jude 1:20-23 tells us,
"But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh."
In this passage, we see very important principles in being a blessing to others.
1) Build yourself first by praying
Before we can give something to others, we've got to have something to give.
In this case, we should all build ourselves up. If we're too focused on reaching out to others and neglect our own commune with God on a daily basis, soon we won't have anything to give.
Praying will greatly help us build ourselves up.
2) Help fellow believers and encourage them to pursue the Lord
Next, we've got to encourage other believers, whether we know and like them or not, to pursue the Lord Jesus Christ. God expects us to do this.
We've got to become our brother's keeper. We need to be on the lookout for each other, so that we can remind one another of the Lord Jesus Christ's words, even as we face trials and hardships.
3) Exercise compassion on unbelievers, preaching Christ to them.
Lastly, we've got to exercise compassion on all people, seeing them from God's perspective: unless we repent and believe in His Son, we won't be saved.
With that in mind, we've got to reach out to others. Jude 1:22-23 tells us, however, that we must be careful and apply wisdom in this:
"And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh."
We must be discerning in how and who we reach out to. While it's good to desire to become a blessing to all, we must be careful in doing that so that we won't be manipulated and lose our time and resources needlessly.
And since our resources are limited, we must learn to choose who to help.
