But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you. Luke 11:41
“Satisfaction consists in the cutting off of the causes of the sin. Thus, fasting is the proper antidote to lust; prayer to pride, to envy, anger and sloth; alms to covetousness.”
Richard of Chichester (1197-1253) in Saints’ Quotes: Holy Quotations for Purification of the Soul, Collection on Alms.
The famous pop song, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” reveals that we can have everything the world offers and miss the one thing we are looking. Satisfaction is the added benefit to choosing lives of confession, fasting, and alms giving.
To clean out lust, we fast. To erase pride, envy, anger, and sloth, we pray. To address covetousness, we give to the poor. The benefit for engaging these practices comes into view as a counterintuitive bonus: we actually get satisfaction.
So fast, pray, and give alms. Give them generously to the poor and gain even more not as a handout that creates dependencies but as hand up that builds disciples. As Jesus put it, everything will be clean for you. Do it for your good and God’s glory.
We have capture video and photos to report on Palmful of Maize from Malawi. It’s been a remarkable journey traveling all over Malawi over the past week. Pray for the next leg of my journey. Heading to South Africa today.
When it’s available, I will share the video and trip report from our unforgettable experiences capturing the spread of the remarkable vision of Palmful of Maize in Malawi. With you.