Most of us know the idea of doing unto others what you would want done to you. I like the way the Message Bible says it in Luke 6, “Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them!”
I think we all tend to get into the habit of wishing others would do things for us. We wish that someone would meet a need, recognize our mood or help out. As a wife and mom, I have been there many times. “Doesn’t anyone see the needs all around us?” “Doesn’t my family recognize I am in over my head?”
Yet the reality is that what we want done for us, we must be willing to do for others. Not for the reason of just getting something back in return, but in recognizing that we get more satisfaction out of helping others.
I discovered this just a couple of weeks ago when I went out of my way to cook a meal for a family in need. I say “out of my way” because I don’t really enjoy cooking. It is a real struggle for me to get a meal on my own family’s table. But the need was there and I asked myself, what would I want people to do for me in this situation? I would like to receive a meal, so I took the initiative and did it for them.
Do you know that I found the greatest satisfaction in doing this? It felt so good to prepare the meal and then to deliver it. It felt better than I had anticipated and really opened my eyes to the concept that what I want, I should first do.
What is it that you want? Whatever it is that you want, decide that you are going to first do it to for someone else. Do you need encouragement? Encourage someone else. Do you need help with a task? Help someone else out. What you want, you should first do.
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