23RD NOVEMBER
Proverbs 14:31
“Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honours him.”
God wants you to be as gracious to the needy as he has been to you!
Take just a moment; stop and think about God’s grace in your life.
Did you deserve it? Did you do something for God first? No, it was God’s own character that caused him to pour himself out for you.
When you help a needy person, it reflects God’s character at work in you. It “honours him”! The greatest thing you can do for a person is lead them to faith in Jesus Christ. But it also expresses God’s heart for them when you simply help them at a point of need. And very often God will get their attention spiritually when you help them materially.
If you take the name “Christian” —meaning “Christ-one”—then you must represent the One whose name you carry. You must have a giving, loving attitude even to those who have done nothing for you. If this is not natural for you, then invite God to live this way through you.
God is waiting for you to say to him, “Lord, I can’t love like you, but you can, and you are in me. How do you want to love this person through me? I am available.”
MAKE IT PERSONAL
How can you express the love of God today to someone you meet? It may or may not be someone you know, but it will be someone that God has brought into your life for you to show his love to.