Faith in Action

Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this 

if you learn all the right words but never do anything?

Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person 

really has it?  For instance, you come upon an old friend

dressed in rags and half-starved and say,

"Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ!

Be filled with the Spirit!"

and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a

cup of soup - where does that get you?  Isn't it obvious

that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

James 2:15-17 [The Message]

I have a soft spot for charities; I'm not exactly sure why.  My dad was always a champion for the rights of the underdog, so perhaps that is where I got it from.  When I was young, I rescued stray animals, and somehow that morphed into wanting to help down-and-out people.  I love the work that Habitat for Humanity does in building homes for folks who work right along side them to make their dreams happen.   Directly after Thanksgiving, I start looking for the bell ringers from the Salvation Army, and can't wait for the Angel Tree people to get set up in the malls. Heifer International offers the opportunity to purchase chickens or sheep for people in third world countries instead of giving cheap Christmas trinkets to friends.  Smile Train provides cleft palette surgeries for third world children.  So many love things to donate to - so little money!!

I have friends who have a very difficult time giving money directly to homeless people and others who are begging on street corners.  I'll admit, I have my doubts about the advisability of that as well.  But there are times when God pulls on my heart strings and I do it anyway.  There was a time {when my children were small} when our family was extremely poor and basically homeless. I remember the thrill I experienced when someone at church or work would slip an envelope in my purse with $5 or $10 in it: a very small love gift for them, but an unexpected blessing enabling me to provide a little something extra {or simply the basics} for my girls.  It meant the whole world to me to receive such a gift, and now, as far as I am able, I am determined to pay it forward.