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| The Poor helping the poor (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,
and He will reward them for what they have done.
Proverbs 19:17
New International Version (NIV)
We all know that helping the poor and those in less fortunate circumstances is a good thing to do. We might not always follow through on this, but most of try at least now and then to give where help is needed. Even a quarter to a sidewalk beggar can be an act of selflessness.
But poverty is not always synonymous with destitution. We all have needs of some kind at one time or another. And so does everyone else. We rarely know the complete story of those we encounter in daily life. A stranger in a bad mood might be merely reacting to some terrible situation that has occurred in his life. The distracted waitress who isn't serving us as well as we think she should be might be dealing with immense problems in her life.
We don't know the needs of others just by looking at them, but sometimes a smile or a kind word can do wonders for a burdened heart. There's no need for payback when doing something out of the goodness within us. We shouldn't ever expect that. However good things will come from the good that we do for others. That goodness might not always be recognizable to us yet our helping to make the world a little bit of a better place can help make us a whole lot of a better person.
There's truth in that adage "What goes around, comes around." Not that we have to see it in any big way, but sometimes good things come our way because of what we've done for someone else and we may not even make the connection.
The good we do doesn't escape God's notice. Take care of others and you'll be doing the right thing.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.
Philippians 2:3-4
We all know that helping the poor and those in less fortunate circumstances is a good thing to do. We might not always follow through on this, but most of try at least now and then to give where help is needed. Even a quarter to a sidewalk beggar can be an act of selflessness.
But poverty is not always synonymous with destitution. We all have needs of some kind at one time or another. And so does everyone else. We rarely know the complete story of those we encounter in daily life. A stranger in a bad mood might be merely reacting to some terrible situation that has occurred in his life. The distracted waitress who isn't serving us as well as we think she should be might be dealing with immense problems in her life.
We don't know the needs of others just by looking at them, but sometimes a smile or a kind word can do wonders for a burdened heart. There's no need for payback when doing something out of the goodness within us. We shouldn't ever expect that. However good things will come from the good that we do for others. That goodness might not always be recognizable to us yet our helping to make the world a little bit of a better place can help make us a whole lot of a better person.
There's truth in that adage "What goes around, comes around." Not that we have to see it in any big way, but sometimes good things come our way because of what we've done for someone else and we may not even make the connection.
The good we do doesn't escape God's notice. Take care of others and you'll be doing the right thing.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.
Philippians 2:3-4
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
