The Heart of Service: How to Love Your Neighbor When You’re Already Overwhelmed and Busy

Are you living out the command Jesus gave us to love our neighbor as ourselves?

Or do we hear the command and we actually don't take action?

So we're going to dig in this today, and we're going to talk about what is at the heart of this and who are we actually?

Who are we being in the world?

Are in the Good Samaritan, the parable of the Good Samaritan?

Are we the priest, Levite, or the Samaritan?

Because if we're being honest with ourselves, many of us might not realize that we are actually the priest or the Levite in the story.

We.

We aren't showing up to actually help our neighbor.

We aren't showing up to actually be there for other people in need.

So let's dig into this and see how can we soften our hearts so that we have a heart centered more on people, just like Christ did?

Welcome to Faith Fueled Living, the podcast that equips you to live well spiritually, emotionally, physically, and purposefully.

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Most.

I remember hearing about a story it might have been a year or two ago online, and it was that a woman called around to local churches and she said that she was struggling and that she needed help.

She was a mother and she needed help.

You know, like she needed help or resources or money to get baby formula and other needs.

And I think.

I don't remember how many churches she called, but only one of the churches she called actually said, yes, we can help you come in, right?

Like, we'll take care of you.

But the question is, has the church, and have each of us, or many of us, hardened our hearts?

Have we focused on more the question around people or someone's intentions?

And we've stopped helping the people in need around us.

And by in need, this could be anything.

This could be the neighbor next door.

This could be one of your family members.

This could be somebody that you don't even know has a serious need because they haven't shared it.

Or it can be somebody that is in serious need, right?

That they have bigger needs and it's more obvious.

Or maybe they're going through a center facility at church.

So I want to dig into the Good Samaritan today.

We've mostly all heard this parable, but the honest truth is sometimes the things we've heard the most, we forget to notice.

Are we living out the command?

In other words, are we taking action?

Are we faith moving in the world?

Or do we just hear the command and we stop and we don't take action?

And I'm going to talk too about why might this be?

Because I'm right there with you.

There's times where I've taken action.

There's times where I try to help others.

But there's other times where I start questioning it.

Like, is this person just taking advantage?

Are they saying something that isn't true?

Are they going to use whatever I give them for the right thing?

In other words, I'm starting to question their intention.

And then I sometimes that stops that flow of faith in action, that stops the love of Christ in the world.

Because I'm questioning someone or I'm saying, well, culture says this, what I'll get in, which I'll get into in a minute.

But Christ doesn't tell us to live of the world or to question people.

He just says, love your neighbor as yourself.

So first let me share with you the Good Samaritan parable of the Good Samaritan.

It says, on one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.

Teacher, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

What is written in the law?

He replied, how do you read it?

He answered, love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

He goes, you have answered correctly.

Jesus replied, do this and you will live.

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, and who is my neighbor?

In reply, Jesus said, a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was attacked by robbers.

They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.

A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.

So too a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was, and when he saw him, he took pity on him.

He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.

And then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper.

Look after him, he said, and I will return.

I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.

Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers, the expert in the law replied, the one who had mercy on him.

Jesus told him, go and do likewise.

I was listening to something the other day, and it was talking about this parable, and it was asking us the question, what's the difference between the people, right?

Because you would have thought that especially the priest, right, would actually do something, that he would show up in the world and actually take action.

But the difference, though, is what's our availability and what is our outlook on a situation?

So in other words, it's our perception of something and it's also our availability.

Are we available to helping other people, to loving our neighbor?

Or are we so busy and caught up in our own agenda, our own schedules, that we're missing the opportunities to serve in love in the world?

So what do we do about this?

Well, first of all, I think we get clear again on what Jesus calls us to do and how he ask us to live in the world or commands us, actually.

But two, we have to look at what is our perception or outlook of us coming across somebody in need or of course, volunteering at places where someone's in need or recognizing that someone is in need that's right around us.

So the first thing is we have to be paying attention.

The second thing is we have to notice where there is need.

And we don't do that by being so busy that we miss it, right?

We miss the point of even why we're here.

The next thing is, I was having a conversation.

I was interviewing somebody, it was a couple weeks ago, and they said they were on their way to an important event, right where they were speaking, but there was a delay and they just felt kind of God prompting them to talk to this person.

But they knew if they did, they might be late, right?

They would miss their connecting flight or whatever it might be.

And of course, our ego can get caught up and think, oh, well, this other thing is more important.

I'm going to see more people.

I'm going to give the message to more people.

But in those moments, we have to remember, God never said, like, you need to go talk to 500 people today.

He just said, like, love your neighbor.

In other words, is our expectation of the day getting in the way of us actually showing up and being of service to the person that God's putting right in front of us to actually be the hands and feet of Christ?

Is our belief that our schedule is more important than people in need or our neighbors, who we could actually change their day, change their life, Are we missing something because of our own lack of availability?

So the question is, how do we make ourselves more available and also notice the situations around us and the ones that God is calling us to act in or to help others, to love others.

So the first thing is we have to be careful that distractions and busyness aren't standing in the way of us helping others, our neighbors.

So part of that is just an awareness of that, right?

That we aren't putting our schedule or the busyness of our schedule or the importance of our schedule above loving our neighbor as ourselves.

And then two, are we removing or pruning things that aren't really serving us to be better servants of Christ?

And that doesn't mean we don't ever do anything fun or we don't ever, you know, go do things right?

It doesn't mean we should have a totally open schedule.

It just means we regularly need to make sure the things that we're signing up for align with our priorities, our values, and then what the season looks like.

And then third, it's, are we listening to God?

Are we hearing Him?

Are we looking and waiting for him to kind of give us that prompting to be available to someone, to notice someone in our surrounding that might need a helping hand and an encouraging word, they might need their groceries paid for, whatever it might be.

In other words, are we being obedient to our assignment that God is calling us into in that day or that week or that season?

And I sort of alluded to this earlier, but one thing that I struggle with is kind of the example that I gave with the woman calling different churches to see if they would help her.

And it was obviously, if you will, that was somewhat of a setup.

But the point is, if it hadn't been, would people have helped that person in need?

Right.

That was the question.

She was trying to get to the heart of that.

And it's sad because obviously churches in general do donate and do a lot of good with the money they get.

But if people come to our doors and we say we can't help them, then there is a disconnect.

Something's happening there.

I remember talking to a friend and she said, we were talking about people that stand at intersections and they say, you know, they need money because they're either homeless or they're out of a job.

And there's such a debate around this.

Do those people actually need something, or are they going to spend it on drugs or alcohol, or are they just trying to make money and they're actually living a Fine lifestyle.

In other words, they're taking that route to say, I'm in dire straits, yet really what they're doing is just collecting more money.

There's always going to be someone that has ill intentions, or maybe they have the best intentions, but they are addicted.

The question, though is, are we hardening our hearts towards helping people?

Because we're trying to understand their heart, we're trying to understand their motives.

But God didn't ask us to understand someone's motives or ask us to understand where someone's at or why they're doing it or why they're asking for help.

But he is telling us to use discernment and to know when he's calling us into helping people and also how we help them.

So, for instance, if it's someone that you see on the road and you think, well, it's possible that if I give them money, then they'll go spend on drugs and alcohol.

Well, no one's saying you have to give them money, but you can figure out how.

Can you help them?

Can you buy them food?

Can you help them get to where they need to go safely?

Right?

Like, can you order a car to come get them?

Can you bring them something?

Can you help them find out about a ministry?

Can you bring them blankets or clothing or whatever it is they need?

And obviously I'm not just talking about helping someone that's homeless or displaced, although that is part of people in need.

But it's.

Are we open to seeing where God wants to use us to help someone else?

And I want to share a couple other things with you.

One is, I think we do need to search our heart.

Like, is it hardened by the world?

And oh, I started to tell you so this friend of mine said that someone at her church, I think it's the church manager, but she said she kind of.

When people supposedly come to the door in need, she.

She's become hardened.

Like, I don't think they're really in need.

In other words, she's starting to, from her own own perspective, try to discern or decide if that person's truly in need.

Well, the first thing I'd say is if somebody's coming to a church and saying that they're in need of something, they likely are.

In other words, maybe, yes, maybe there's more to the story.

There always is.

But shouldn't we try to give them resources?

And I'm not saying that that church or that woman aren't giving some people resources.

But the question is, is it really up to us to Determine if that person is truly in need or not.

And I'm not saying, once again, there is discernment.

There can be people that try to trick us, right.

Just like trying to get people's money and things like that.

But in this case, I think unless it's going to hurt us in some way, right?

Do we want to try to help people, be of help, then be worried about what their motive is?

And once again, I am not saying we should put ourselves in unsafe situations.

I'm just talking about how do we make sure that we're showing up in the world to serve others.

I was reading something by Emmanuel Atika the other day, and he's just basically talking about when our heart is softened.

When your heart, heart is postured and surrendered to God, you'll be used to help God answer other people's prayers.

He said helping one person might not change the world, but it changed theirs.

Be that change today.

He asked God, you know, to use him, right?

Like, how can he be used to be of service?

You know?

And it's kind of that he asked people, how can I help you?

What can I do for you?

And he prays and says to the Lord, where can I be of service today?

Show me in the moments how youw want to use me.

Put it on my heart.

Who you want me to speak to, how you want me to help someone.

He gives plenty of stories about it in one of his books.

I think it was in the Prayer of Jabez.

But it all also could have been in.

You were born for this.

Because I was looking at or rereading both of those in the last two weeks.

But he's giving one example where he's driving home one night and he's coming off the interstate.

And he had asked God earlier, right?

And.

Well, actually, just moments before that, like, use me, Lord.

And there was a man pulled over on the side of the road that was broken down.

And so he got out of his car and he asked the gentleman, you know, hey, what's going on?

You know, what.

What's happening here?

And the gentleman said, my car's broke down, and I'm waiting for the service to come tow my car.

But the honest truth is I don't really have the money to pay for it.

And so Bruce said, you know, hey, come take a seat in my car.

Which I'm not saying everyone should do that.

I Don't know how safe that is, right?

A lot of us wouldn't feel comfortable with that.

But he finds out what's going on with the man, and the man kind of tells him more of his story.

And Bruce gives him cash because he.

I guess he keeps some amount of cash with him for people in need.

So he gives it to the man, and the man's just like, you know, thank you, you don't understand what this means.

And he tries to get Bruce's address because he says, I want to pay you back.

But Bruce says, no, absolutely not.

Like, that's not the point or purpose of this.

Right?

It's just to help you because I am able and I am in a position to be able to do that.

But these are the types of things I'm talking about.

In other words, are we aware of what our neighbors, our brothers and sisters in the world, what they need?

Are we paying attention not just to surface level, but look at someone's emotions.

Does someone look like they're about to have a breakdown?

Is someone crying?

Is someone just wringing their hands at the grocery store or sitting in their car?

Does someone look like they're in despair?

Is someone with a child just telling their child, no, I can't get you that?

And the reminder today is how Luke 10 ended, that I've shared.

And it's go and do likewise, right?

Jesus said, go and do likewise.

In other words, go and be like the Good Samaritan.

Go and help your neighbor.

Go and help the person in need.

Have grace, have humility, and just realize you're here to be used.

You're here to choose to be kind.

You're here to choose love.

You're here to choose to serve others.

We get to choose to do that, right?

But that is why we're here.

And so what if each day, when you're doing your morning prayer time or time with God, aren't you saying, or why don't you say, lord, how do you want to use me today?

What do you want me to notice?

Who do you want me to notice?

And how do you want me to move into the world?

Show me those opportunities where I can partner with you to do more good.

And then make sure that your heart is set and centered on noticing what's happening around you.

Perceiving things with an opened and loving heart, not a hardened heart.

Let's not assume the worst of people now.

Yes, be aware, be cautious.

Right?

Be safe.

But let's not assume the worst of people that may be in need.

Let's figure out how can we help them, whether that's directly or indirectly or through some other person or charity.

But let's also not put it off to someone else and say, well, I give money, I give charitable donations every year.

That's good, right?

And of course God says to tithe to the church to godly causes.

But we're not asked to only do that.

We're likely also asked to use not just our treasures, right, our money, but also our time or, and, or talent.

And so we just need to make sure are we open to this and are we asking those questions, how can I help today?

How can I be of service asking people what can I do for you and just bringing it to God, where can I be of service in this moment we're going to be of service in this situation or where I can be of service in my day?

And full disclosure here, I kind of mentioned this earlier, but there are days and times and seasons where I'm much more open to this.

I don't really worry about what the world says or what the world tries to tell me about someone in need or is this someone I should really help?

Because when I just act on what my heart's saying, right, to like talk to that person, help that person, see how I can help them, then it feels, it feels right, like it feels like that's how what God's calling me to.

But it's when I start questioning myself, like my initial act that I would have taken or let's say I'm at the shops and now for instance in the city beside me sometimes where there used to be somebody with a sign asking for money, now they have signs posted that says like don't give money to the panhandlers.

You know, like give money to the causes that, those that can help those people.

But right, that starts to make me think what do I do here?

And once again, this is not a conversation about should you give money to someone on the side of the road with a sign or a panhandler or not?

Right?

Because I'm not trying to tell you how we should help people.

What I'm trying to say is are we approaching helping people by being open and aware and our perceptions, right?

We're not being closed off and closed hearted like that priest or Levi, we're saying how can I be of assistance?

But of course when it's safe and no, God doesn't say that everything will be safe.

But my point is in those instances, obviously I'm not saying telling you to be unsafe, but I'M just telling you to have an open heart and to ask God to use you.

And then also just be aware that your busyness and schedule aren't dictating or keeping you from being, you know, faith in action.

And so that's really what today's episode's about.

And it's partly.

This is partly on my heart, because I'm trying to, in my everyday prayer life now ask God, you know, how do you want to use me?

Use me.

But I've been there, too, where I've passed by somebody because maybe it was inconvenient or I was on my way to somewhere else, or I just.

I was absorbed in my own thoughts, right?

And I. I maybe didn't think about something till later.

Like, you know what?

Maybe that person did need someone just to, you know, lift up their spirits or whatever it might be.

And usually I'm.

I'm aware of those things, but I'm not always.

And if I'm gonna be honest, there's also days or months or seasons where it's a lot easier to stay comfortable than to go and do more in the world.

And that is something I'm asking God to change my heart about, which is, Lord, take me out of my comfortable circumstances sometimes and move me into a place of doing more good, of more service.

And so I don't share most of these episodes with you because I'm speaking as someone that's acting always perfectly great.

Like everyone else, I. I still struggle with all the things.

Right?

And every day is a new adventure.

And some days I think I. I choose better, and I try to be more aligned with a Christ like life.

And other days I don't.

Right.

Because we're human.

We can be selfish and sinful in all of those things because that is our nature.

So I only share this as I also walk through, wanting to reflect on these things and wanting God to change my heart on these things, and also not wanting my own schedule and busyness and comfort and distraction to keep me from doing more good.

So I hope this encourages you in some small way.

I want to wrap up today's episode with just a couple words from Pastor Mark Batterson that I hope will just encourage you.

The first is, can I make a simple observation?

Notice who's next to you.

What you think is a seat assignment might be a divine assignment.

The person 2 inches away may change your destiny or you might change theirs.

He's talking about supernatural synchronicity here, right?

In other words, noticing the situations we're put in and who's near us, right?

Proximity.

Okay, then he says, ourselves, we tend to miss divine appointments, right and left.

In fact, they seem like human interruptions.

We get so consumed with trying to get where we think God wants us that we put our spiritual blinders and miss the goose trails.

He wants to take us down.

The way you chase the wild goose isn't by going faster and faster, the he is slowing down your pace, taking off your sandals and experiencing God right here, right now.

And just a side caveat, when he's talking about goose trails and wild goose, he's talking about God.

That's a old Celtic name for God, or pursuing God.

And then he shares this interesting story, and it was actually about the Good Samaritan parable.

But he basically, some.

Let me look here real quick.

Some psychologists did an experiment at Princeton for students that were seminary students.

And they basically, all the students were going to have to do a sermon.

And so some were given the parable of the Good Samaritan to give a sermon on.

And then some were able to pick other topics.

But the researchers, basically, the experiment was this.

Before they went to do their sermon, they were told.

Some of the group was told, you're running late already.

You need to hurry up and get to your lecture hall.

And then the other part of the students were told, you have a few minutes extra, but you should probably just get on your way.

But the researchers stuck, strategically positioned someone in the alley to play part of a man who was mugged in Jesus's story, Right?

So they put an actor there.

He was slumped over and groaning loud enough for pacifiers to hear.

Well, here is what happened.

They basically, you know, tracked or watched as the students went by.

And it says only 10% of the seminary students who were in a hurry stopped to help, while 63% of those who weren't in a hurry stopped to help.

In several cases, the seminary student going to give his talk on the parable of the Good Samaritan literally stepped over the victim as he hurried on his way.

But the psychologist concluded the it didn't matter matter whether someone wanted to help people or whether someone had just read and was preparing to preach on the parable of Good Samaritan.

The only thing that mattered was whether or not they were in a hurry.

They concluded the words you're late had an effect of making someone who is ordinarily compassionate into someone who was indifferent to suffering.

So do you see what I was talking about?

If we let our distractions and our busyness and thinking that our schedules are the utmost.

Instead of who God is positioning around us in the, in the surroundings that he's put us in, we're going to miss the moments.

We're going to miss the opportunity to help people and to be there to encourage people and love on them and be kind.

And I'll just tell you this, he says, this is Mark Batterson.

Hurry kills everything from compassion to creativity.

And when you're in a hurry, you don't have time to get out of your routine, do you?

No.

No room for spirit led spontaneity.

No time for wild goose chases.

Here's a great irony.

The priest and the Levitt were probably on their way to the temple.

They were so busy loving God that they didn't have time to love their neighbor.

And that is when our routines become counterproductive.

Let's be honest, we can get so busy doing ministry that we don't have time for ministry.

And then he just says if you're chasing the wild goose, which is God, you don't have to manufacture opportunities to minister.

In fact, as I read the gospels, it seems to me that most of Jesus's ministry was unplanned.

Like the time when Jesus was walking out of Jericho and a blind man named Bartimaeus called out to him and he basically says that many people would have seen they were trying to rebuke Bartimaeus and saw him as a human in her interruption.

And then it says there's no question that Jesus had places to go and things to do.

But Jesus didn't see a human interruption.

He saw divine appointment.

And what did he do?

He went and he obviously talked to and helped that person.

So he just says spontaneity is an underappreciated dimension of spirituality.

In fact, spiritual maturity has less to do with long range visions than it does with moment by moment sensitivity to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

And in it is our moment by moment sensitivity in the Holy Spirit that turns life into an everyday adventure.

So I just wanted to wrap up with that because it really put into words what I was trying to convey in this episode.

So until next time, I hope you have a great and blessed week.

If you haven't already, head over to KristenFitch.com to become part of my community.

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And then also, where were moments of joy in your life?

Right, like the fruit of the spirit type of joy.

Because when we focus on and pay attention to those things, more of that will bubble up in us.

Because when we don't focus on those things, when we don't show and think about what we're truly grateful for, where we've been blessed, what we want to thank God for, and how he's moving in our lives, it's very easy to get caught up in in the frustrating thing that happened to us, in the thing that's breaking our heart, or any other thing that we might be walking through.

So it's a great thing to just keep your sights on the things that are good and godly.

So go to KristinFitch.com and go to my workbooks and you can grab the Joy Rising work.

Until next time, I hope you have a wonderful and blessed week.

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