Love your enemies and do good, and lend expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most high, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil, Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
Luke 6: 35-36
This was today's Bible devotion on my cell phone, but it brought back some memories of when my husband and I were young in our twenties and going through some financial challenges; we decided to move our family to a low income apartment for one year to get on our feet. It was a hard decision, but it was the right decision. My husband promised me it would only be for one year, and he kept his promise, but I learned much in that one year period.
I noticed that the less people had, the more they shared and used their talent to do things that wealthier people think nothing about purchasing. The creativity of my neighbors astounded me. They may have had cheaper items in their homes, but they knew how to paint, glue, build and repair furniture by using crafty skills to make their homes look great. They made gifts for birthdays and holidays. They shared their goods with anyone who was in need.
There was a young couple in the building who had three young children. The husband hated all minorities and was a member of a racist organization. This couple was very poor and couldn’t afford to live anywhere else, so you can imagine how miserable he was. This man absolutely refused to speak to any of his neighbors and taught his children to call minorities by racist names. This man's oldest child, a son, was about 11 years old, and was the splitting image of him. This child greatly admired his father and yielded to his dad’s instruction to not have anything to do with the other children. My heart went out for the kids because they were so isolated. One day when the father was out looking for work, the mom knocked on my door and asked me if I would give her some flour and oil so that she could make some biscuits and gravy for her family, because they didn’t have any food. Now, this woman hadn’t spoken to anyone either, and now she was standing at my door needing substance from me. My heart went out to her and I gave her what she asked for and I loaded her up on what she didn’t ask for. She cried bitterly because of the things I gave her. She was very open and honest with me about her husband and their feelings toward minorities, but she displayed no remorse or apologies; just shame. Did she hurt my feelings? Yes she did!!! But, God moved me pass that drama.
A few other neighbors helped them as well over the months, until one day, the oldest son told his dad where their food supply was coming from. Although his mom had sworn her young son to secrecy, he had been erroneously schooled by his father in hatred and betrayed his mom’s secret (I often wondered where this man thought his food was coming from, since he didn’t bring home any money). This woman was badly beaten by her husband for humiliating him and begging from those he hated and they moved out the building that very day; never to be seen or heard from again. Those who had helped them over the months continued to pray for them long after they were gone.
We fed a man who bitterly hated us. This man taught his children to hate us and his wife may have hated us, but as most mothers know, a woman will do almost anything to feed her family. She had to swallow her pride and come to people who knew her family displayed no thankfulness, nor kindness to. But, the reward went to those who blessed this family.
We gave with no expectations that we would receive anything in return from this family and that there would be absolutely no appreciation for our acts of kindness. I don’t believe I ever heard the woman say, “thank you.” She simply took the goods and ran.
Today is a new day and the hearts of people are different then in the past. There is very little display of love like we use to see. We lend with great expectations to receive back and may charge a small surcharge for lending it. Those who display acts of kindness and go out of their way today are heralded as “heroes.” When I was young, a hero was one who jumped in front of moving vehicles or fiery vehicle to save a person. A hero was one who sacrificed his life to save his whole platoon. Since selfishness abounds, we are now calling people heroes who do what they should do naturally. People want banners, flags, bugles and drums to beat when they do something good. They envision themselves on the news and will place it on the internet. Look at me! I did this or that for so and so. Never mind the embarrassment it brings to others. Ministers place cameras in the face of people who are being delivered from demonic activity or sickness and place it on the internet. Did the person consent to you posting their pictures all over cyber space? We want everyone to know our good works and do good deeds, for that very reason. Can the person pay me back? Tell me before I give you the money when you are going to repay me…right now…I need to know. A desperate man will say anything when they are in need. If someone in desperate need ask you for $20.00 today, then it might be hard pressed to hope to get it back tomorrow. We give to get and we help people with the hope of getting our names out there and this is wrong on so many levels. We also give to people we know can pay us back.
You may feel that no one appreciates your goodness, so you will no longer help those who have a need. But, remember, God is kind to the ungrateful and the evil and if you display kindness to them, even though they may be sipping on hater aide, you have God’s promise to be a blessed person.
Living in the world of what if...
I have thought about that family a couple of times over the years and I wondered about the outcome of the children. The little girl was about five and the baby was probably two. I would like to believe that the oldest boy may have remember the kindness that was displayed to his family and began to change his opinion about hating others based on color or ethnic group. He may have thought to himself that these awful people fed us when we were young children. He may have told his siblings how they were starving as children and their mom received (she didn’t borrow because she couldn’t pay back) food, money and clothing, from Black people in order for them to live. He may have remembered that the dresses his sister received came from a Black woman who had several daughters and gave her some dresses and since she had sons, his brother and he received a few shirts and let her know this truth. He could have possibly told his sister and brother that this same Black woman put her arms around their mom and prayed for her as she wiped away their mom’s tears. The children in the apartment building didn’t tease them because their moms forbade it. I just believe that these children grew up to know that love comes in all type of packages. I believe that these, now grown-up with possibly children and spouses of their own have learned to love those they were taught to hate. What if the young man became a evangelist; feeding the poor in some second world country or working with the Feed the Children Project? I do not believe their mom is alive today because her health was very fragile back then. I am crazy enough to believe that she took them to her heart before she left here and taught them the Golden Rule, to love their neighbors as themselves. I believe that God gave these precious children the gift of love when He placed them in our apartment complex. He demonstrated love to them and kept them until they could keep themselves. I believe that nothing is by accident and it was no accident that they were placed in a Black neighborhood as a racist family. Who knows, this lesson may have even been for the father, who listened closely to his father’s instructions to hate others who are different. Maybe God was giving this man a chance to live and love, by placing him in the midst of good neighbors, who happened to be Black. He may have been in an awful, personal struggle, when he realized that these people, who he was taught to hate, loved him and his family and were a source of help in his time of great need.
For those of you who are struggling in the area of helping others who are in need, because you feel that you might end up in lack yourself, let me encourage you. Some of those you helped will be changed by your good work. You may never see the change, but God can and does use us to touch the lives of others to be transformed in their inner man. Transformation takes years and other people may be the recipients of the good that you started. A transformed life changes from the inside out, so we may still see behavior that is opposite from what God is doing on the inside of the person. But, in order to see transformation in the lives of others, we must be the one who touches their lives when they are in need. Selfish people know better than you do, that they don't deserve your goodness. They know they are stingy, mean and selfish and God will use a good person to touch the life of a low-down person. Touching other's lives is never easy, but God notices our good works and hidden deeds. He repays in dividends that are out of this world. You must be able to be used by God. Sometimes we ask God to use us in His service, and when we say this we are thinking of some grand mission, like going to another country or serving in some high position, but God may use you to change a person or a family that He is interested in.
Mercy, compassion, giving and loving are the gifts that keep on giving. You will never be in lack as long as you walk in these virtues. Don’t fear lack; lack is for those who are selfish and self serving. A person can be filthy rich and in lack; for his spirit is in poverty. Bless and give, for it shall be given back to you, in full measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over (this is goodness that doesn’t stop), shall men give (not necessarily the person you gave to) to your bosom. When I think of someone giving to my bosom, I don’t just think of financial blessings, but love, and encouragement. Make 2012 the best year you have ever had and understand that when you give to those in need, you place yourself on the eternal list as a blessed person to be a blessing.
Have a great New Year!!!! Change a life, open blind eyes and set the captives free so they can sing the song, "Changed!"
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