Wednesday; February 1

What goals do we have for our social involvement? Do we hope to win the battle or are we content with making a difference? This may seem like an odd question, but our approach might help us from getting discouraged. You see, if we set out to eliminate hunger or end homelessness; we’ll run out of resources (and stamina) before we run out of opportunities to help. If we put all of our efforts behind winning the war on drugs or eradicating injustice, we are going to walk away feeling like we have failed. As long as we have people, we are going to have recurring problems. Now, this might seem like a cop-out but the truth of the matter is that our responsibility is not to solve all the issues, but to be engaged in touching people’s lives. No, we can’t use the fact that we’ll never win the ultimate war to stop trying, rather we must keep trying knowing that we will always have an opportunity to help the people around us. The same Jesus who said, “For you always have the poor with you …” (Matthew 26:11) is the One who also praised the efforts of those who took care of people and condemned those who didn’t in Matthew 25.

Let’s make the commitment to help others, but not become discouraged when we can’t solve all their problems or eliminate their plight. We will not be judged by our wins and losses on the social issues … rather we will be evaluated by the effort we put forth. In the end, let’s remember, “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’” (Matthew 25:40).

Think About It!

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