Giving to the needy is one of our missions here on earth. We are given blessings not just to prosper for ourselves but to help other people as well. See Matthew 25: 33-40 below:
33 He will put the righteous people at his right and the others at his left.34 Then the King will say to the people on his right,
Come, you that are blessed by my Father! Come and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since the creation of the world.35 I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes,36naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.
37 The righteous will then answer him,
When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?38 When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you in our homes, or naked and clothe you?39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?
40 The King will reply,
I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these followers of mine, you did it for me!
Of course, this should be done with a heart full of love, love for our brothers and sisters and love for Jesus, not just because it is our duty, nor because we just want to be saved.
These days, there are so many ways we can practice charity. We can start by helping people near us who ask for our help, those we know and those we don’t; perhaps a relative, a neighbor, people asking for alms on the street, those whom we pass by as we go along our daily lives who may not even ask for help but obviously need it. We can give them what they need~food, clothes, medicine, water, or even a roof above their heads if we can afford it.
We can also help those who are far away, such as victims of disasters in other places. We can give donations in cash or in kind. There are so many organizations willing to help us out to send our donations. Many times, we don’t even need to stand up and leave the house. With a click of a mouse, we can send donations using credit card, paypal or even donations thru text such as what is being done by the Red Cross, in cooperation with cellphone companies.
There are sooo many ways we can help out. Let’s start giving what we can. And when we give, let us not expect words of thanks or even the mentioning of our names on our gifts. What we give are our gifts to God, and He already knows who we are. Let us not help others to expect anything in return. Let our gifts be gifts from the heart.