We need others, and others need us. We’re already busy, but being busy doesn’t exempt any of us from serving beyond our own family and comfort level. Quite honestly, simply meeting our own family’s needs are far easier than stretching ourselves to reach out and serve others and develop relationships with others. If we never take a risk, we never have the wonderful opportunity to find a friend willing to stick with us through thick and thin. Finding those chosen few is a wonderful blessing. We can start looking in our church, in our child’s classroom, and in venues our kids participate, etc.

In general, we desire to build all relationships by treating others graciously and kindly. We want others to sense from us that we are willing to work together, not just have things our way. We want our participation in a relationship to be “life-giving” not “life-draining.” In our desire to balance those fragile areas of relationship, we want to love like Jesus and not be indifferent to others. Sometimes that means protecting ourselves and our family, and other times it means giving above and beyond what we think we are able. In both instances we seek the Lord and depend upon Him for guidance and direction.

A few practical ways to reach out to others:

• Help in your child’s classroom in school and at church
• Invite Sunday School teachers, classrooms teachers, friends, others to your home for dinner
• Write notes of encouragement to other in challenging place in life
• Help others in practical ways
• Allow others to help
• Stay connected to others that are “life giving”
• Don’t take advantage of the help of other
• Be transparent in your struggles so others don’t think we have it “all together”
• Thank people who’ve helped at church or other places so they know you appreciate it
• Pray with others through their struggles like you’d like to be prayed for through yours

Ideas you would find helpful:

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Building a bridge is always better than tearing them down. Bridges allow us to journey to a place we long to go! Our journey will be so much sweeter with others at our side, and we at their side. We need to reach out to build that bridge. What might YOU do to make that happen?