I just read an awesome and insightful entry by Pete Wilson, which you can check out here.
The following are my thoughts on a similar topic:
We are blessed. Having the technology, time, and money to access the internet and view this post means that you are blessed. I probably don’t even have to convince you regarding how much you are blessed. Just look at the clothes you’re wearing, the things in your house, the fact that you have a roof over your head, the people in your life, etc.
As a result, there are a few different types of people. There are those who don’t even consider themselves blessed, in comparison to others, and have this insatiable desire for more. These people don’t feel like they have enough as it is, and are always thinking about what else they could buy.
On the other hand, there are those who consider themselves blessed, but still want more regardless.
We hear and read about all the people in the world who are suffering. The fact that one child dies every five seconds from hunger related causes (that’s 16 000 children everyday). The fact that 12 million people have been orphaned by AIDS, across sub-Saharan Africa, by the end of 2005. The fact that 10.1 million children died before they reached their fifth birthday in 2005. And the fact that approximately 30 000 people go to bed hungry everyday.
Sure we read and hear about these facts, but is our heart moved? Are we compelled to act? Maybe…maybe not.
I believe that if we do the following and make a paradigm shift in our thinking, our actions will follow suit:
We need to realize that God has blessed us with all that we have (not just material possessions, but relationships and experiences as well). He has blessed us with it all so that we could bless others. He didn’t just bless us so that we could enjoy life and keep it all to ourselves. He blessed us so that we could go out and be His hands and His feet.
Do you want to know how we can end extreme poverty (see Jeffery Sach’s The End of Poverty)? It’s not by praying that God drops money and rescues all those who are suffering. BUT, it’s by getting out of our seats, taking out our wallets, and giving to others what God has blessed us with.
In my personal experience, I have found that the more that I give, the more that God actually blesses me. I believe God chooses to do this because he knows that I won’t just spend all of the extra money on myself, but because he knows I will give it to others.
What are you doing with your money and time?
Check out the following links. These are places that I actively give my money to:
-
Compassion Canada
-
World Vision
-
Your Local Church
-
Power to Change
Right on Daniel. I need to wrestle with that last question for a while.
Hey Sangi!
Great variety of topics on your blog. I actually wanted to make a late comment on that ‘Asian-Western’ entry here. I’ve contemplating some similar issues as well, as a Chinese-Canadian. I think you put it quite nicely- love the contrast in proverbs. It’s definitely something I’ve recognized as a struggle for myself growing up. I wrote an entry about being Chinese/Canadian on my blog if you want to check it out: it’s the 2nd latest entry.