Helping those who can Help Us We can easily fall prey to the idea of measuring the amount of help or assistance we offer someone based on what they can do for us. We hold back certain aspects of our generosity because we feel that the beneficiary of our good deed does not have the means or ability to give back in the same measure. We will use this as an excuse to hold back on our giving because we are doing more for them than they could ever do for us. When we apply this formula in real life, the people needing our help the most, get the least. It could explain why the poor and helpless remain poor and helpless. God has a different outlook on this one. “My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,’ have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called? If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well.” James 2:1-8(NASB) This can be a very personal issue for all of us. We have to be brutally honest with ourselves in order to examine our behaviors and our personality. We often will treat someone based on what we expect in return without even thinking about it. For example, how often do you use this formula when making your Christmas shopping list? How often do you apply these mathematics when you are deciding what to purchase for someone’s birthday, or maybe a housewarming gift? We will even do this when we are tithing in the church, trying to give no more than the next guy in the pew because we feel everyone should give their fair share. We become prejudice in our thinking because we are now classifying people based on their ability to reward our trust, or purchase our attention. This is offensive to our God. When we make the attempt to “love our neighbor as ourselves,” we are following the instructions of our Savior. This is not any small task that can be measured by how much love our neighbor has for us. We can’t place value on how much love we have to give because we would need to apply the formula to ourselves. We are not willing to do that. If we are not willing to place a value on how much we love ourselves, then what makes us think we can do the same for our neighbor? Stop asking the question “what have you done for me lately.” “in the world, not of the world”
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 06:27:26 +0000
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