Psalms 37:25-26 ESV
Yesterday my children and I were traveling to California, and we stopped at a gas station. While I was inside my 16 year old son, 9 year old daughter and 22 year old (soon to be adopted) daughter were outside feeding a homeless man and his dog.
I had no idea that the food the homeless man was eating as I passed by him was the same food that I had just purchased across the road for my daughter, so when the man said, “thank you!” as I passed by him, I was a little taken back. I was pretty sure he said thank you with a sincere smile, but I had only been thinking about how to help him at that point, so I didn’t know why he would say that unless he was being sarcastic.
As I went to my car, I reached in my purse to see how much cash I had, but I wasn’t sure if that was all that I should give him, so I looked around for something of value in my car such as scripture cards for encouragement and water to drink.
At that point, I mentioned the man to the kids, and I asked them if they could see if he had anything to drink or not. They said that he was finishing the food they gave him, but they didn’t see a drink. I laughed and told them thank you for sharing their food with him, and I told them to bring him some cold water and some money to make sure he could eat later. They said that they already gave him the money they had left over from the food, but it was all they had to share with him.
My heart melted inside as I realized that they didn’t just see my actions of helping others. They all wanted to do their part and bless the lives around them too.
Many young people can’t think of anything besides themselves, and they seem to just be worried about what their friends will think about them. I realize now that those young people are merely doing the same behaviors they were taught by the adults and people of influence in their lives.
We blame teens for not caring enough about the world around them, but are we teaching them by example what really has value in this world? Teach them to love people with a pure heart by loving others, because all lives matter.
Every life is important to God. Even the drunk that cheated on his wife and left his children matters to God. We need to help others without judgement. When we judge others we cause shame and condemnation to cover those lives and that becomes a mask that blocks them from coming to God for healing and wholeness.
We are all in this world together whether we like each other or not, so why not start asking God to bless all of those people that we don’t like, so that we can be surrounded by blessed people? Blessed people are kind and feel loved, but the people that we curse with our words that we speak against them, feel the stinging impact of those cursed words and the result is a lot of angry, hurt people that cause more hurt in the world.
“Bless those who curse and revile you…” God is not trying to cause us suffering by saying that. He is trying to help us make the world around us better by creating a blessed world with loving people for us to enjoy an abundant life.
Grace, Mercy & Miracles 