A wealthy Christian man who lost everything in a financial downturn was asked if he ever regretted all he had given to the Lord’s work.
He replied, “What I gave, I still have. What I kept, I lost.”
As an American, we like to have our opinions. We have opinions on everything from how to handle Ebola and gun violence, to how we should be spending our taxes and whether or not our favorite sports team played well. We love our free speech and our beliefs. Most of America was formed out of the quest for these two freedoms. We cannot lose them, for there is no where else to go on earth to find the same. Though we are sometimes divided as a nation on where we stand with our opinions, there is one unique and inclusive part to America. It’s our charity. No other country in the world puts as much emphasis on charity and social welfare as America does. We should be proud of these efforts. You can see it everywhere you go: Salvation Army, Red Cross, YMCA’s, United Way, many churches and civic organizations, missions, local food pantries, Angel tree gifts at Christmas, foster care, Girl Scout cookies, and every school and athletic program in between. In addition, America pays for almost all missions and charities for the rest of the world. We are a giving nation. It’s part of our culture, and we should never lose site of this.
Giving brings thankfulness, and thankfulness brings happiness.
Greed, on the other hand, takes away.
If you google “how rich am I“, it will show you a few sites where you can compare your wealth with the rest of the world.
If you make $32,500 in U.S. dollars, then you are in the top 1% of the world.
It takes the average worker in Indonesia 43 years to make same amount.
Your monthly income could pay the monthly salaries of 141 doctors in Central Asia.
So the next time I find myself complaining about dirty dishes in the sink, piles of laundry and unmade beds, and not getting that raise I think I deserved, I will instead be thankful for food to eat, clothes to wear, a warm bed at night, and will skip that extra double chocolate mocha and help someone in need.
May we all be blessed with thankfulness.
Blessed is he who considers the poor; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
Psalm 41:1
