i looked back and its been almost nine months since my last real post. i have had stuff to blog about but i usually forget by the time i am at my computer. i forgot about this one twice already but now i actually have sat down to write.
when was the last time you helped someone less fortunate than you with no assurance of anything in return? what about someone who was homeless? or any random act of kindness? last summer i went to a couple tiger games and this winter i went to a red wings game. inevitably there are people outside the stadiums asking for money. should i give them any? there is a guy that was going around my neighborhood last summer asking to do yard work for money. i helped him out, every so often he comes around to shovel or rake leaves. occasionally i would give him money ......even when he had not done any work recently.
conventional wisdom in our society seems to say not to give money to people that ask for it without anything in return. 'those people' are just trying to trick you out of money, too lazy to work, only want to con you out of your money, or they just want the money to buy booze. does that matter? can i live with a clean conscience just walking by and not helping our at all? when is it appropriate to help or do i just leave that for the 'ministries' that are created to help 'those people'?
within the past year or two i have begun to change the way i think. hopefully for the better. i think that we are commanded to help 'those people'. as a christain it is hard to try and justify walking past 'those people' or avoid them in my neighborhood without doing something. i am not a big fan of the 'what would jesus do' slogan, became to commercialized and americanized, but i have to think to myself, if jesus was next to me and saw the way i handled a situation would he be proud or disappointed? i have to think, not what would jesus do, but what does jesus want me to do? how does jesus want me to share his love with other people?
i realize i am suppose to be a good steward or what God has given me, including my finances, but i cannot compromise the display of Christ's love to other people. the perception of christians in america today is not good. why? if we truly showed his love to all people, would that perception still be out there or would people be drawn to him because of what we do? the quote at the top of this website is a constant reminder to me that what i do every minute of every day has eternal consequences.
how can i live with my actions if they push people farther away from God................how can you?
