Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 539 of our trek, and we are hiking a series of trails called The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack. Each Monday for a total of 20 weeks, we will explore a different tool that is needed to equip parents and grandparents to train their children and grandchildren to be successful on their trek of life. If you don’t have children or grandchildren of your own, use these tools to train others that you do influence. Today the sixth tool from Gramps’ Backpack is Supporting Others.
We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. As persons of influence, we have certain moral obligations that we should pass on to our children, grandchildren, and others on whom we have influence. The tool from Gramps’ backpack that we will explore on our trek today needs to become part of the very fabric of our lives. That tool is…
I believe all of us would like to make a difference in our world and to make it a better place, but we are not sure of the best way to make an impact. Jesus told the story in Luke 10 that we refer to as The Good Samaritan – a story about an individual who helped a fellow traveler when no one else would. The uniqueness of this story is that the Good Samaritan was a social outcast and enemy to the Hebrew traveler that was assaulted. We too should be “Good Samaritans” when we encounter people who need our help, regardless of who they are. Galatians 6:2 tells us, “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.”
The words of Jesus are clear as to the extent that we should help others. In Matthew 10:8 he said, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!”
As followers of Christ, we are commanded to be generous with our family, with our friends, and with others that are in need. We must give freely of our time, our possessions, and most importantly, our love.
John Maxwell said,
“No one stands taller in the climb to success than when he bends over to help up someone else.”
The tool of supporting others has its origins in the law of planting and harvesting as mentioned in 2 Corinthians 9:6-8, “Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give....
