Looking to Sacrifice
55I wish I could help the poor more. According to international standards I am a wealthy person - not so much next to American standards. Yet even in America there are many who need and I want to help them more, but I am not sure how I can help them. I already give out of my insignificant income and have donated many of my possessions to thrift stores, clothes closets, and public libraries, and yet I feel like I still have so much more than I need, so much more I could give.
But at the same time our culture has taught me to cling to things, possessions, money, stuff. While I have rejected this notion from a purely logical, reasoning point of view, there is still part of my heart that wants to hold on to my stuff. I like my stuff. Stuff is good, stuff is nice, stuff is wonderful.
But sometimes stuff keeps us from better things, keeps us from generosity and other-centeredness. My desires to acquire more things or even my worries about providing for myself keep me from giving as much as I could, as much as I think I should. I want control over my money, my stuff. Natural? Yes. Good? Not so much. At least not for me. I know what God wants from me, and it is not the acquisition of more stuff. It is the loosening of my grip on all of the stuff I have so that I can cling all the harder to Him and His passions. He doesn't have a passion for collecting stuff as much as for caring for the needy.
So I want to find a way to help the needy. Yet all of my giving is not enough. I want to be there with them, not just another faceless, nameless giver. I want to share my time, my life with them, not just my resources. I want most of all to share my love with people, and that requires more than just monetary gifts. That requires time, effort, and sacrifices in many areas of my life not just my finances.
But my life does not seem very conducive to getting very involved right now. I move too much, life a leaf tossed in the wind. I feel I never land long enough to make enough of an impact. But it is enough. I know that God is touching lives through mine, and I am grateful, I am content. I trust God to work out my yearnings, my passions, my desires in my life. Perhaps it is only because I am still young, but I have so many wishes, so many dreams left unlived. I want the simplicity of a life not so fettered with stuff. I don't want to be tied down, I want to be free, free to be whoever, whatever, whenever, however God wants me to be. Freedom is not being tied up in anything or to anyone but God, and oh! how glorious an entanglement it is!
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well here is my 2 cents worth.."cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements". by Napoleon Hill..and good things come to those who wait.
You can be a help in the liitle things unknown to anyone but you. I recently had to give up my 45 yrs. of child care and have many things from that..I just gave a newly Pregnant mom and her husband almost all I had to help them out..and to the grandma who is gonna watch the baby.
to a home nurse I gave more stuff to help her daughter out..so the little things you do are not forgotten and God sees all and forgets nothing. You are young and as long as you are always honest, and do what you can you will be rewarded. Don't be so hard on yourself..and let it happen naturally and from your heart...G-Ma :o)hugs
John: Perhaps I have not been aroung long enough to have to deal with the whole welfare system, but I have never thought about it that way, although I have heard others speak of the problems with welfare and the laziness it feeds and encourages. I find it very difficult to believe that there are people living here that have so little pride as to permit themselves to live hand-to-mouth entirely relying on the government. Granted, they might not work *quite* as long and as hard as if they literally had to work to survive, but I would imagine that such extreme behavior is more of an anomaly and less a normal situation. However, I have not been alive very long, really, and probably do not know as much about government and welfare as many older than I who have seen these things become established and have probably witnessed the difference it made in people's attitudes and behaviors. Either way, I think it my job to help them and not worry about whether or not they deserve my help based on their attitudes and whether or not they've tried hard enough to get out.
G-Ma: I don't think I'm being hard on myself for not helping enough, just that I wish to help more. It's more like really wanting to go somewhere: you don't feel guilty if you can't get what you want, but rather you long for it deep inside yourself. Something like that anyway. It's not that I don't think I'm helping...well, most of the time...but I want to help more, I feel I have more to give. I guess maybe there is a little bit of that, and your warning is probably more helpful than either of us realize!
Your heart is in the right place. However, wishing to do great sacrifices is one thing but accomplishing is another.
Both John Chancellor and G-Ma Johnson give very good advice. Take the advice.
We all need to do this. But you still have to keep things in perspective at the same time. (my opinion only). I donate to many charities. and give to the doctors without boundaries. each month. And donate clothes etc and door appeals.
You have to realise that we all contribute when paying our taxes too. Look at the millions the governments give away. That initially comes from us.
give in wisdom and I think that is what John is saying as well. I think the giver bears a responsibility to give with knowledge to a certain extent that your gift is going to make a difference. God did instruct us to be generous and I think that includes the occasional gift with "no strings" attached.
However, we need to use our intelligence. I would rather teach a man to fish, than feed him a fish. Which gift is long lasting? If he is hungry, feed him; and teach him how to fish for tomorrow...so you can go and help another. It is not judging others to understand their situation. A greater gift would be to help lift them out of their situation with more than a meal or a piece of clothing.
The government originally tried. Greed took over, and so did mismanagement. The private sector does much better with Charity. Along came the Red Cross. Good intentions, again, mis-management, but they do have worthy goals.
Patience, you have a very generous heart. I'm glad God is directing you, I also think he's giving you good advice through others....give wisely with the intelligence God gave you and you will make a difference -- a lasting difference in the lives of others. And, it's ok to feed the occasional bird for a day. =) good luck to you and I'm glad you wrote this HUB. More people need to have your generosity. Just sprinkle in a good dose of wisdom -- and the spice is right!!
einron: you are right, it is one thing to wish and another to actually get out there and do.
eileen: it's good to know that there are many generous people out there, that I am not alone in wanting to help my fellow men and women. I don't really count my taxes into my giving because it is not something I am choosing to give, it is being taken. That's just my choice, but for others it may be very well and good for them to take that into consideration.
marisue: I am struggling to find the balance between simply throwing money away in foolishness to those who will not really help the needy and becoming to demanding with those I donate my money to. Realistically, once I give money away it is no longer my money, but if people do not use it for the needy it is wise to rethink who I donate to.
Ultimately, though, this is not about just money, or even mostly money. I give money already, but I want to give more of me, more of my time, my energy, my love, my life. And yes, I want to learn to be able to give more of my money too, to be able to live off of less and less and give more and more, but not everyone is called to that like I am. I do not want to lose sight of the value of personal involvement in assisting the needy, as important as the monetary and material donations are.
sadly... most of the world is starving to death:(
I know! And it's that kind of poor that I want to help the most!
The richer and more influencial you are the more difference you will likely make. Work on that in your youth and you will able to afford to be generous with your time and money when you are older. This was the best advice I never took.
I don't know...I'm a bit skeptical of that advice. Perhaps if people actually were able to do this, but most people can't let go of their money, time, and things once they've got hold of them. I think that the amount you "can" give is largely based on how you think about it (i.e. whether you "have" to have that nice car, nice house, nice retail clothes, jewelry, etc.).
And I don't see how getting a higher paying job will give you more time. Everyone has the same amount of time, don't they? And often the wealthy end up owned by their jobs (from the limited perspective I have on it anyway), leaving them less time for family and no time for charities.
But that's only my perspective (clearly I don't know a lot of wealthy people). Perhaps there is something in that advice...but I don't think it likely that I will take it.
We approach you with respect.We( AFRICAN YOUTH MOVEMENT ``AYM``),just think may be this contact might be useful to our Association.The AYM for short,is an association of youths all over AFRICA,coming together as one,with various aims.First of all,our main aim is to help in the fight against the wide spread of HIV,as these disease is fast reducing our fellow youths Africa wide. Our association and its aims,cannot be realized due to many important factors.Up till date,we still face difficulties in bringing most of the youths together,especially from other African countries.We are unable to build partner branches in other countries,we still can foot for come together bills during our holiday camps.Most of it all,the fight against poverty which is a world wide concern especially in Africa is still left behind,and most youths,find it really difficult to associate because of lack of social amenities. We simply want to kindly plead with you,to use your high office and put us through with the right authorities,where we can get or apply for some financial aid,to take our association to a higher level.All our applications submitted domestically for aid are constantly postponed till God knows whenever. While waiting for a favourable consideration from you,we remainyours humblyLisa Harry
africayouthsagainstaids@gmail.com
Ms. Harry, I am afraid you have misunderstood. The only "power" I have is in my words, and even then I have very little. I have no power over any particular influencial audience, and as much as I would like to help I am afraid that I can do little for this particular request. If there is anything else I can do to help, please feel free to ask! God bless your ministry and all the people you serve and help!
I have written a hub on "Tithes and Charity - To Tithe or Not to
Tithe."
God bless.
hello patience virtue. i truly believe you are where God wants you to be at this time. maybe it is in that place that you can best learn the things you need to learn and share whatever you can share. He honors whatever you can give and adores your intentions. you are free. you are free to choose the way to which you can best help those in need and He will honor that for He loves His children dearly. praying for you.
Thanks, Dayzee, for your beautiful reminder of God's heart for me. Everyone should have someone like you in their life to remind that of the truest truth about God: He is love!
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John Chancellor says:
2 years ago
Patience.
You are right about the need to let go of possessions. The more we cling to possessions, the more we become their slave. In the end, all possessions will fade. We have come to equate happiness with material things. The truth is all material things are temporary. The glow of owning anything fades with time. It leaves us wanting more. The more we get, the more we want. This becomes a catch 22 - vicious circle that only leads to torment.
Now as for helping the needy - I believe we would all find more and better ways to help the needy if the needy would take the help they receive and improve their lives. Here in the states, we have created a monster with our attempts to help the needy. Instead of providing temporary relief, instead of being a helping hand to get people out of a hole, our welfare system has created an entire section of our population that are dependent on the welfare system for their existance. They simply expect the system to take care of them without ever making a positive contribution to society. They take no responsibility for improving their position.
As the Bible says, "The poor will always be with you." I am afraid that is because there is a certain percent of the population that do not have the drive or ambition to be otherwise.