Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:39b
“Although you cannot help everyone, you can be of assistance chiefly to those who are connected to you by the opportunities of place and time or some other matter. They have become joined to you, as it were, by some chance.”
Augustine of Hippo (354-430) in Concerning the Teaching of Christ, book one.
Because we cannot help everyone, many resolve to help no one. Don’t let that be you. Instead, be of assistance to those by whom God has put you in place and time. Part of almsgiving is noticing and ministering to the needs of those around us. Who has God placed around you?
It may seem like it is by chance, but Augustine, by his language, reminds us that these people have been joined to us. God place us together. One day, we get to help them, and the next day they assist us. It can be in big ways like helping in a crisis or in small ways like opening a door.
Don’t try to save the whole world, as Jesus already did that for us. Just focus on those that God has connected you to in place and time. Pause to pray about who those people might be. Ask God, in silence what you have been resourced to do for them. Now make this a part of your Lenten almsgiving.
I’d appreciate your prayers today as I speak twice at a conference in Orlando on generosity to local church stewardship champions on the topics of “Towards a Theology of Money” and “Connecting Gratitude, Accountability, and Generosity.” Pray for Spirit-filled teaching and receptive hearts. Thanks.