Monkeys Do and Humans Too

How can we show charity and be hospitable?

The point is God wants us to be hospitable, to care about others, to share with those in need. And that sharing can be anything at all:

• We can bolster another with a kind word, or just an attentive ear. Sometimes by just listening, God will talk to that person telling them what to do about their need…you may not have to say a word, or do anything but give a few minutes of your time.
• Can you volunteer to help with a church or community project or program?
• Can you seek someone out to say an encouraging word?
• Can you pray for those in need and those not in need?
• Can you pick up your phone and call someone you haven’t talked to in a long while?
• Can you bake a cake for a friend just to celebrate your friendship?
• Can you sit with a friend’s children or elderly family member to allow your friend a few hours for a much needed break?
• Can you help an elderly neighbor by mowing their lawn?
• Can you donate those items you haven’t used or worn to someone who needs them?
• Can you provide lodging and meals for a visiting pastor or missionary?
• Can you provide a meal for someone who is sick and unable to cook, or who has just been released from the hospital?

There are lots of organizations to help various individuals with deep needs, like alcohol and drug users, those in prison, crisis pregnancy centers, battered women centers, troubled teens hot line, orphanages, hospital volunteers, and libraries can use volunteers to help the illiterate read and children to enjoy a story hour or volunteer for a book sale.

You don’t need money or even a lot of time to fulfill God’s command to reach out to others and help share their burden and need. All it takes is the desire to do so.

A great deal of encouragement can be given when the words are gentle, sincere and full of compassion. Proverbs tells us: “The lips of the righteous nourish many…” Chapter 10 verse 21a NIV.

So are we going to be smarter than those monkeys caught in the net because they refused to let go of a banana? Can we let go of our greed and replace it with a sincere desire to show charity and to be hospitable? I believe this is something within all of our reach, God has given us the commandment and He will provide the way to get ‘er done.

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