There\u2019s something that happens to me about once a month that always shakes me out of my spiritual torpor and makes me realize I\u2019m meant to be doing a little better in the \u201cLove your neighbor as yourself\u201d department.<\/p>\n
It\u2019ll all start out innocently enough. I will have asked someone to do me a favor, maybe not even that big a favor, but big enough that it\u2019s going to have cost them some time and energy. I won\u2019t hear from the person for days or weeks and I\u2019ll start fretting, wishing they could just do what I asked. How hard would it be? Don\u2019t I deserve it?<\/p>\n
Then just in the middle of my irritation, I\u2019ll get a phone call or an email from someone asking me to do a big favor. The timing is never ideal, the request seems presumptuous if not outlandish. I\u2019ll feel burdened and put upon and start thinking about all the ways I can say no. I delay, I procrastinate, I avoid the request that\u2019s sitting in the inbox. Then it dawns on me: \u201cSomeone is asking me to do the kind of nice thing that I\u2019m expecting for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
This might seem small in the area of spiritual growth, but I think it\u2019s HUGE. It must be something that makes the angels weep. If we want the heaven and earth from God, shouldn\u2019t we be willing to offer a small piece of it to X or Y?<\/p>\n
So here\u2019s my suggestion\u2014I\u2019m making a mental note to myself. When you\u2019re feeling a little blocked in your spiritual life, when you\u2019re stymied, look at those good things that you can do for others. No good deed goes unpunished? I\u2019m waiting for the moment when I can tally up more giving from me than I\u2019ve ever been given.<\/p>\n
Rick Hamlin is the executive editor at GUIDEPOSTS.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There\u2019s something that happens to me about once a month that always shakes me out of my spiritual torpor and makes me realize I\u2019m meant to be doing a little better in the \u201cLove your neighbor as yourself\u201d department. It\u2019ll all start out innocently enough. I will have asked someone to do me a favor, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":27453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[185],"tags":[28,14],"ppma_author":[476],"class_list":["post-17533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories-of-faith-and-hope","tag-spiritual","tag-spiritual-growth"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n