It is one thing to have friends and it is another thing to have good friends. Some people have “friends” who just want to have fun and enjoy each other’s company. This type of friend doesn’t care about their friend’s situations, problems, dreams, or future. Friendships that are developed with fun as the only goal, will consume time, effort, and money and leave both parties empty. Jesus exhibited a type of friendship that comes from God that loves people enough that they are willing to get involved in the needs of their life.

God has been empowering, training, and transforming your life so you will be able to develop friendships that really help and serve people. God isn’t asking you to add additional burdens to you life that increase your responsibilities and over burden you. He is asking you to make a special trade with Him that will free you from the concerns and struggles with your own issues. He wants to take your cares and problems on as His project so as to free you to be able to accept the issues of other people.

Mat 11:28 (NIV) Come to Me [Jesus], all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Jesus is inviting us to bring all our issues to Him so He can give us rest from the pressure and responsibility of things that would dominate all our time. If we are overcome with stress and negative emotions, then there will be no room for other people’s problems.

So, the first step to caring about other people is to give our issues to Jesus’ care so we will have the time, energy, and emotional stability to help others.

Mat 11:29 (NIV) Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Jesus’ yoke is the assignment He is giving us to help others. Some people just want God to get rid of all their problems so they can be totally free of all pain and difficulty. However, God wants us to know how to get rid of the concerns for those negative things that are coming our way SO WE CAN HELP OTHERS. It isn’t a matter of us only caring about ourselves, it is an issue of love. We are to care about the situations others are facing so God can use us to help them.

Mat 11:30 (NIV) For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

The yoke or assignment Jesus is giving us will be much easier for us to deal with. Even though love helps us identify with the problems of others, Jesus will use our sacrifices and efforts to help others to bless us in a much greater way. The more we turn our issues over to the care and solutions from Jesus and start helping others, the more Jesus blesses and works miracles for us.