One of the most difficult things to do in life, at least for me, is to ask for help. Why? Because asking for help clearly indicates I need help.
The issue is vulnerability, I guess. No one really wants to be vulnerable because this manifests weakness, and weakness is the worst.
Here's a reality: we are all in need. Sure, most of us—and, yes, the male species is a bit more obtuse about this—don't want to admit it, but we are in need. "Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment" (Proverbs 18:1).
Realizing that we need help, we also need to realize who to go to for help. This depends on what it is we're in need of. And I would believe that if we can't go to friends for help, then they're not much of a friend—whether or not they can help is not necessarily the issue; it's more that we can go to them and at least find a place to be heard.
It should be that if a friend comes to us asking for our help, that if we can, we should. And we should not feel that it's an obligation being fulfilled, but a friendship maturing. (How good we would feel for helping, and how good our friend would feel for being helped, knowing they can count on you.)
But it's not just about helping friends—"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:9-10).
We live in a time when we're basically cynical of others' motives. I wish I knew exactly what to offer to fix this cynicism. We (and I mean "I") definitely need the heart of the servant Jesus and not be so quick to condemn (Luke 6:37), but much quicker to help.
Do we lose anything by helping others? Even if we "get taken," do we lose? Maybe we're afraid to lose money or time or effort … But do we really lose when we help someone, anyone?
"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6).
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