Listen, Love, Repeat Bible Study Guide

Our culture is obsessed with self. Online. In our schedules. In our relationships. At every turn we seem to care about only one thing-"What is in it for me?" And it isn't just the rich or famous. It is a fixation for nearly all of us. We post pictures of ourselves. Of what we are eating. Of what we are doing. We are saturated with self, almost to the point where it begins to seem normal. So many of the old fashion virtues appear to have disappeared over the years. Holding the door open for someone. Saying, "No. After you." not only with our words but also with our actions. Looking out for others. Giving a helping hand. Such others-entered behaviors are scarce these days. Because the normal default is to look out for number one, to become a person who thinks about others first will take great effort on our part. It requires us to live alert. To be on the lookout for what I call "heart drops" stealthily stowed in conversations with others that give us a hint into what kindness we might grant to them.

And also to notice those in our lives who might need a helping hand, a generous dose of encouragement or a loving gesture done for them-with no expectation of a return favor, no strings attached. In this six-session study, Karen Ehman helps women look at scriptural examples of those who lived alert and also Jesus-the one who noticed those who least expected to be noticed. Through these examples, women will be inspired to live alert and to realize that in order to find joy in life, we must learn to stop focusing on ourselves and seek to make someone else's life better instead. Additionally, this inspiring and practical study provides encouragement and ideas for reaching out to others with both planned and random acts of kindness. Topics include loving your family and friends, encouraging coworkers, reaching out to the lonely, blessing the "necessary people" who help you get life done every day but often go unnoticed, and many others who could use an act of kindness.

Among others, Karen will cover the following biblical examples and will dedicate one session to scriptures that command us to do something for "one another":

• Jesus: never too busy to stop and touch someone's life
• Abigail: showed kindness and creativity in the midst of a very stressful situation
• Paul: he not only shared the gospel but "his very life as well"
• The Islanders of Malta: showed kindness to Paul even though he was a stranger
• The Good Samaritan
• The paralyzed man's friends who took him to Jesus
• David and Jonathan
• Abraham's dealings with the three strangers