Freely you have received, freely give!
Remember Lucy in the Peanuts Comic Strip? Sometimes she would set up a funny little booth with a sign overhead: Psychiatric help – 5 cents!
I’m afraid Christianity may present a similar picture to many today.
It's easy to set up a little booth on Sunday. The sign over the building seems to beckon - If you want spiritual help, come and get it!
But Jesus didn’t merely set up a truth booth. He set out to meet the physical needs of people! This explains why so many were attracted to His message.
Students of the Teacher will pay close attention to this. Teaching spiritual truth should be accompanied by – How can I help you?
Here Jesus is sending out His students with the same mission - preach to the spiritual needs of the people AND meet their most pressing physical needs.
It isn’t easy.
It takes more effort than hiding behind a booth.
But it’s been said…
People don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care!
We are pretty good at the "freely receiving" part, but "freely giving" is a little more challenging.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it is harder to receive than to give. We need to remember that when we are giving, even if it is done in God's name.
ReplyDeleteDenny said "It isn’t easy. It takes more effort than hiding behind a booth."
ReplyDeleteProviding for ones physical needs is often the path that needs to be taken in order to get to the heart of the matter. Unfortunately, in my experience, psychiatric help always costs more than .05 cents to both the giver and receiver! Those that are willing to roll up their sleeves and serve others with loving and generous hearts must be willing and able to get dirty and to withstand the discomfort that helping others often brings.
In helping others to discover the spiritual truths in their lives we often place ourselves in vulnerable positions in which we temporarily become the object of that persons confusion as they are not ready to hear the truth. Instead of exploring the possibility of what we are saying, they turn away from our help in order to maintain the status quo of their reality.
Helping others requires much patience and a willingness to be rejected a time or two. Perserverance, in my experience, is what enables people to conclude that "People don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care!"
What a drain I have been on those who have loved me enough to help me through the rough spots in my life. What a blessing it has been that they have stood by me through all of my optical adjustments and readjustments. God bless them for not allowing my temporary blindness or defiance to push them away.
As a helper we can be comforted in knowing that psychiatric help from our Father is free of charge and readily available to us at all times. We must remember that as helpers, we must go to the Father for replenishment in order that we may continue to serve one another in love.
I appreciate the comments! Different
ReplyDeleteperspectives lead to fuller understanding.
So, your participation makes visiting this
site a much more valuable experience
for us all.
Thank you.
I’ll second Denny’s thoughts – Thanks to all who commented! This is a wonderful tool for daily encouragement for me!
ReplyDeleteNotice the purpose. Jesus has called his disciples – and he has changed their lives. But he doesn’t have a mere collection of Groupies to serve Him and puff Him up. No, Jesus has served them, and instead of wanting service returned to Him, he sends them out to serve others! He sends them on a mission. With specific instructions – go and preach and meet needs.
If our lives have been changed by Christ, then we too have a mission – Go and make disciples of all nations, Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Mt 28:19-20)
Meeting needs is an important way to show we care, and to reach out to those around us, yet sometimes we reach out but never tell people why – because we have freely received from Christ, we freely give. Sometimes we preach without showing we care. Sometimes we convert without making disciples.
It’s a combined package - not simply meeting needs, not simply preaching about the Kingdom: but Meet needs, preach about the Kingdom, and make disciples. This gives us purpose in our lives, it gives us direction, and it will keep us close to Him (as Hope111 mentioned – we will need to be replenished from God)
Thanks again for all the encouragement!