We thank our Heavenly Father for His goodness to us by helping our neighbours. One proof of your love for the Creator is your love for your neigbour. Live by the law of love. Remember that not all things that are lawful are helpful and edifying. It is better to be kind than to be right. Be kind, nearly everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. If you have to choose between being kind and being right; choose to be kind and you will always be right. There is no one that does not have where it pains. With-hold not a help from the needy when it is in your power to render it. Say not to your neighbor “go and come again tomorrow”, when you can give the help now. Delay of justice is injustice. A minute’s delay may cause death. (What doest thou, do thou quickly) Tardiness devalues a gift. Help that is not present when it is needed is of no use. Anyone that is bound in service to mammon is deaf to the cry of human needs. A righteous man labours with his hands to get what to share with others, especially the needy and the poor because experience had taught him that, to pity without power of relief is more painful than to ask without receiving. He is free from selfishness. The injustice of the rich towards the poor and the hatred of the poor towards the rich alike have their root in selfishness.
Those who preoccupy themselves with the growth of others will have megalous and invaluable growth in their biddings in life. It is a constant. When we seek to discover the good in others, we somehow bring out the best in us. You cannot hold a torch to another’s path without seeing the light yourself. When you are good to others, you are best to yourself. Goodness returns multiplied. Charity is money paid to interest in another world. The lamp of faith must be filled with the oil of charity. We may give without loving but we cannot love without giving. Your love has to do with what you do to people and not what people do to you. One should not allow personal animosity to destroy his willingness to be of assistance in time of need. To bend down and help another is a good exercise for the soul. When you are apathetic to the sufferings of others, you have dug a pit for yourself. A man who despises the weak, waters the root of his own problems, but he who gives to the poor lends to his Maker and He will repay in folds. But beware of selfishness in your givings. The love that gives kindness only to a selected few is not love but selfishness; especially when the selected few are those who have favoured you in the past or people from whom you expect a favour. Herein is the foolishness of many wise men, and evil of many good people.
Nothing is actually free in this life, for when you get things freely you owe nature, and when you give freely nature owes you. So it is more blessed to give than to receive. Takers eat well but givers sleep well. Kindness can become its own motive, and we are made kind by being kind. Kindness is displayed by taking an active interest in the welfare of others. It is shown by helpful acts and considerate works. To be kind means to do good rather than do anything harmful. A kind person is friendly, gentle, sympathetic and generous. You have no idea what people are going through, or what they have gone through, therefore be kind to them.
We make a living by what we get and make a life by what we give. The limit of our giving ought to be the limit of our ability to give. Acts of kindness are better than feelings of love, meaning that you should demonstrate your love by acts of kindness. Your brother is in need and you are able to help him in his need. You let him go and advised him to pray about it. Where is the LOVE you claim to have? Where is your compassion? Religion without humanity is a mere sham piety. The value of a man is seen in what he gives not in what he is able to acquire. Our services to others are the rent we pay for the room we are occupying in this world. At the end, it is not the years in a man’s life that count, it is the life in his years, his usefulness. It is the contributions he made to make this world better than he met it. Try not to be a man of success, be a man of value.
The measure of a life is not in its duration but in its donation. An everyday question that demands daily answer is; what will I do today to make someone happy?. He who knows a good thing he should do, and is capable of doing it, but fails to do it has sins. Kindness is a language the deaf can hear and the blind can see. It is better to treat a friend with kindness while he is living than display flowers on his grave when he is dead. Some people in your family will come miles to bury you, but won’t even cross a street to support you when you are alive. Many bring their precious gifts to the dead. As they stand about the cold, silent body, they speak freely words of love. Tenderness, appreciation, devotion are all lavished upon one who sees not nor hears. Had these words been spoken when the weary spirit of the deceased needed them so much, when the ear could hear and heart could feel, how precious would have been their fragrance? Should it be as someone has said: “If you want to know how people love you, die.” No; If with pleasure you are seeing anything that he is doing: if you prize him, and if you love him, tell him now. If you think a gift or some praise is due him, now is the time to pass it to him, for he can neither hear the beautiful orations nor accept any gift at his funeral.
Do not underrate the power of praise. If you leave off the “P” from the word Praise, what you have left is “Raise”. To praise is to raise the spirit and increase the power of the one praised. So, when next your spouse, child or servant does any little good, do not hesitate to say some words of praise. If you praise a strong man, he will become stronger to do more. The plain fact is, you never know what a person has in him until you apply a dynamic and creative motivation to him. Human beings need both physical and psychological survival. We all desire to be appreciated or understood. Everyone craves for recognition. Every human being can be triggered. Indeed, every person can be opened up to more effective performance. People perform better under the stimulus of praise.
What you can do to save the living is more important than any sacrifice made to bury the dead. A fine music is useless if the people are deaf. Perfumes smell bad when the stomach is empty. Let it be remembered that the space one occupies in the hearts of others is determined precisely by the service he renders through some form of sharing. A fair weather friend is useless in stormy world. Wherever there is a naked body, empty stomach, or a broken heart, there lies a challenge for you. Caring for others is a ministry open to all. Stretch out your hand. Do not give only when there is abundance but even when there is scarcity. One can deny himself pleasure in order to relieve someone who appears more needy than him. We can face the hungry multitude and know that five loaves of bread and two small fish when touched by love and compassion, will multiply until the crowd is well fed and the fragments still enough for future use. Where there is grace of giving in the heart, there is always something to share with someone in need in-spite of your own needs. No gift is small. Your little gift may be big to your brother. The value of a slice of bread to a man depends on how hungry he is. Any little gift given in love is big enough to attract the attention of the Holy Angels, and to make the heavenly choir to sing. Magnanimity makes a mite to seize to be a minuscule but a munificent gift. A flower plucked by the hand of a child, and offered in love, is a precious gift. Such gift of love is a symbol of the heart of the giver. It is an outward expression of a great love within. It is a product of the Holy Spirit, that great inspiration; The unseen presence that speaks to the mind and moves the heart to action. Don’t be a friend who will come to me only when the road is good; be a friend who will come even when there is no road. Don’t be the type who knows the time for him to come; just when the food is ready. Is good to honour the physician before you have need of him. An adage said: “in good times our friends know us; in bad times we know our friends.” Do not be a brother who will love me because he needs me, but be one that will need me because he loves me. When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a way that when you die you will rejoice and the world will cry. Only one lease of life is granted to us; and the inquiry with everyone should be, “how can I invest my powers so that they may yield the greatest glory to the Creator and the benefit of my fellow human beings?” For life is valuable only as it is used for the attainment of these ends. Make yourself a desideratum. Do not be the undesirable that becomes desirable only because the desirable is not available.
Failure to do good when one has the opportunity is to do evil; to neglect to save life is to kill. Feed a dog well for three days and it will remember you for three years. Feed a man well for three years and he will forget you in three days. Man is ungrateful, but do not faint in well doing. People may be ungrateful but that is not an excuse for hardiness of heart. You may be right but wrong if you do a lawful thing that is not helpful. It is better to be kind than to be right. Some will appreciate. A drowning man does not thank the one who saved him while in the water but when safe on the shore. Do good first; even if they do not appreciate, you will still reap what you sowed, not necessarily where you sowed it. One of the greatest benefit of giving is that it generates and causes praise and thanksgiving to flow from earth to heaven. Identify with it. This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in the Messiah should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. Let those who are rich in this age be rich also in good works, ready to give and willing to share. There are many from whom hope has departed, bring back the sunshine to them. To many who have lost courage, speak to cheer up. All around us are hearts heavy with this world’s sorrow. Display divine sympathy to such. The Almighty said to Abraham, “I will bless you…. And you shall be a blessing”. We receive to give. Let those who have been blessed from above make themselves an available blessing to others on earth. Be a leafy tree by the way side to shade your brother from the harsh sun-rays. You will only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. We already know enough to live aright. We have all read the golden rule and the sermon on the mount. Our trouble is not ignorance, but lack of action. Our standing before the Almighty Father depends not upon the amount of light received, but upon the use we make of what we have. We who are strong financially ought to help the weak to carry their burdens. We should not please ourselves only. Instead, we should please our brothers and sister for their own good; in other to build them up. Our goods are not truly good unless by them we promote the good of others. REMEMBER THE POOR If we understand and appreciate all that the Son of man did for us, the alabaster box that was broken by Mary and the costly ointment poured on Him would not be called a waste. Nothing would be thought too costly to give to Him who gave himself. No self denial or sacrifice is too great to be endured for His sake. Be careful to do all your givings with a heart that is loyal to Him who gives all things. Enoch revealed to his children before ascending to heaven that: “when a man clothes the naked and fills the hungry, he will find a reward. But if his heart murmurs, he commits a double evil: ruin of himself and of that he gives; and for him there will be no finding of reward on account of that…”. Do all your giving in humility of heart. Remember, “as you do it to any of these ones who believe in Me, you do it to Me”.
My advice to you, the helped is: beware of free launch. What is offered for free is dangerous. It usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation. We stir up water to catch fish. Beware of bait. Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need; Lest you be filled with it and vomit. Before you accept any gift, let your mind race through all possible indebtedness. No matter how broke you are, learn not to accept offers that come with disrespect. Stop looking around, look up. It is not good to beg people for money, learn how to get it yourself.
Those who pray don’t prey.
Pray more that you may prey less.
-BKC YAHKA
Pay Your Rent
