God has a great way of teaching us through experiences. I'm chuckling to myself right now because … well because right now one of my struggles is our food budget! Here I am whining about 'how to cut down on my food budget' and God shows me that I am being, for lack of a better word, a snob! We do ok when we are buying groceries but then we get 'lazy' and eat out or I forget my lunch so I have to buy one. That is a lot of wasted money when we don't stick to our meal plan & grocery budget.
At the Food Bank we got to see a list that 'clients' will get when they arrive to get their food. Depending on the size of the family they get a certain amount of Food. Depending on their income they can come in once a month or twice a month. Only those with no income get to come in every week.
I was looking at this list, imagining a single mother of 3. The amount of Food they will get will be enough to maybe last them a week or even less. Compared to what my husband and I consume, we could probably feed 2-3 families a month on their budget.
What gives me the right to waste my money on luxuries? Every item in our fridge that we have to throw away because it goes bad before we use it, is something that could have fed someone else.
The biggest arguments I hear against making donations of any type are, "Why don't they just get a job?", "The organization will take most of the money and it won't help anyone".
To the first, I say who are we to judge? Sure there are probably some people that could be living their life better but how do you know that they won't change? There are many who are trying and still remain poor. What would happen if you were put in the situation where you needed help?
"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" 1 John 3:17
"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matthew 16:26
From my time working in an employment assistance office for those on social assistance, I know personally that there are many people that have just been challenged with a poor life-style.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them” Matthew 5:3
To the second, yes there are some greedy organizations. Do research, find one that you know will help or instead of donating money, donate your time and volunteer then you will know exactly what is happening! Don't just say that donating doesn't help and move on. That is a poor excuse.
No comments:
Post a Comment