Teresa of Avila said, “Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours; yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion looks out on the world.”

While those words sound beautiful, many of us in the body of Christ struggle with how to care for broken people. Compassion comes easily for people who are like us, but what about people on the margins of society. How can we be the hands and feet of Christ to people who are struggling in the downward spiral of poverty and isolation?

Jesus was very clear in His teaching that Christians don’t have the option not to care for the down and out.

The Good Samaritan crossed the road and was moved by compassion for the mugged man. He got involved by bandaging his wounds and then took him to the nearest rehab center and paid for his rehabilitation.

What we do for the least of these, Jesus said, is what we do for Him. The list included providing food and clothing, looking after people in prison, caring for the sick and taking in strangers.

Compassionate care for the poor is central to the teaching of Scripture. Ultimately the power to overcome poverty lies in learning to live the Jesus way, to follow Him in how He interacted with the poor and the marginalized, and to be willing—like Jesus, to lay down our self-centered, materialistic lives to take up the cross of loving generosity, gentle kindness, and tenacious advocacy for the rights of the poor and the oppressed.

Caring for the poor is something we do together. In the body of Christ, we each have a role to play. God raises up leaders who start movements, ministries and organizations that are feeding and clothing the homeless, providing shelter, caring for the sick and ministering to those in prison. Each of us can join these movements in some way through giving and volunteering.

When was the last time you shared a meal or had a meaningful conversation with a poor person? Find a ministry in your community that is caring for people in need and find out how you can get involved. It will change your life.

The Christian church is the largest grassroots movement on earth. How we respond to the poor is central to the life and teachings of Jesus and to what it means for us to follow Christ. Together we can make a profound impact on poverty. Indeed, I believe we are called by God to do so.      (ARLOA SUTTER)

1. The Early Church joyfully and generously gave despite their being poor. Generosity in the midst of poverty! Though being poor is often the reason why many of God’s people hold on   to   what  they   have  and  excuse
themselves from giving, we ought to realize that it is possible for one to be poor and still be generous in giving.

2. The Early Church willingly gave as much as they were able.  Generosity is best measured not by the sum of what was given but by the sacrifice that comes with it. The Macedonian Christians were willing to forego of that little that they had for the sake of others, trusting the Lord to provide for them.

3. The Early Church was determined to give to help meet the needs of others.  Generosity comes from a sincere and a pure desire of the heart to give. When you have that genuine concern for the brethren, as constrained by the love of Christ, you will naturally want to give and to give generously.

4. The Early Church first gave their own selves to the Lord.  Learn that he that does not totally yield himself to the Lord will neither yield his possessions to Him. But he that joyfully gives himself will keep back nothing that the Lord requires from him. And it is only when we give ourselves wholly to God that we are able to sincerely give ourselves and our possessions to others.

5. The Early Church generously gave to support the work of the Lord.  Generosity knows no boundaries. The church at Philippi generously gave to the poor brethren in Jerusalem and went out of their way to send Epaphroditus to bring their gift to Paul who was then inside the cold prison in Rome. This is far beyond today’s “Out of sight, out of mind” attitude pertaining to the manner of giving to support the workers of the Gospel in missions.

Learning of the generosity of the early church, it would be well to examine ourselves. Have we been generous in our giving?

Generosity is a wonderful blessing, which when acquired, could lead to the receiving of other blessings. “After all, God can give you everything that you need, so that you may always have sufficient both for yourselves and for giving away to other people.” (2 Corinthians 9:8, J.B. Philips).

Remember, God loves a cheerful giver!         (REGGOR BARAZON GALARPE)

One day two disciples were walking with their Teacher, and the conversation turned toward marriage, and how the only enduring foundation for marriage is true love. “Teacher,” one of them asked, “please tell us, what is true love?”

And the Teacher said, “If a man and a woman find joy in one another’s presence, if they can scarcely keep themselves apart, if they love to laugh together, sing together, dance together, cry together— this is a gift from God, it is good. But, I tell you solemnly, this is not true love; it is changeable, and you cannot rely on it.”

The disciples were amazed that so beautiful a love still fell short of true love. After a while, he spoke again.…“Ah, but if a man and a woman appreciate and respect one another, if they talk about everything and learn to listen to one another, if they dream the same dreams, pursue the same goals, and hope the same hopes, yes, even if they share as much as any two people on earth— and such communion is rare and very good— still, I tell you, this also would not be true love.

By now the disciples were very amazed and perplexed. After a while the Teacher spoke again, “Ah, if a young man and a young woman have a common vision, if they pray together, if they serve the poor and homeless, if they work side by side, if together they share what they have, indeed, if they are willing to pour out their very lives in service to others, no, I tell you, even that is not true love, and in the long run, it could fail them utterly.”

At this the disciples were completely astounded.  They young man and the young woman implored him:  Tell us then, what is true love?”

He said, “If a man chooses to love his wife as Christ loves his Church, if like Christ, he lays aside his pride and sacrifices himself for her— putting her needs before his needs, her happiness before his happiness, if he will care for her and take thought for her, if he chooses to keep loving her when their interests diverge, when her youthful beauty fades, when she doesn’t speak sweetly and when he doesn’t feel ‘loving’…
“And if a woman chooses to put her husband first, to follow his lead as the true Church defers to her heavenly Bridegroom, if she is patient with his failings (those he sees and those he does not), if she encourages him and forgives him, if she respects him even when his faults are obvious or she must pay the price for his mistakes, if she has the courage to tell him the truth in love, yet stand by him through it all…
“And if neither wife nor husband will let the sun go down on their anger, but if each will race to repent and reconcile, and if both determine to let nothing on earth divide them as long as they both shall live, there, I tell you, is true love, and that marriage shall never be shaken.”                       (PETER S. WILLIAMSON)

A church will never be a Spirit filled church until it is filled with individuals who are Spirit filled people. The following five marks will be the evidence of the church, or the person that is filled with the Holy Spirit.

1) A Spirit filled person is a person of Power. They get things done for the Lord because they are energized and powered by the Holy Spirit who gives them strength and courage for the tasks ahead.

2) A Spirit filled person is a person of Purity. They have a level of personal integrity that is unmatched in the world around them. There is honesty in all that they do. They have a clean thought life. Purity is a sorely missing ingredient in Christians today. But the Spirit filled person has the purity of the Spirit and can overcome the temptations of the world around.

3) The Spirit filled person is a person of Passion. They are a person who is telling the world about the best thing that ever happened to them. They are a person who is willing to put aside style and cultural preferences and take the message to the lost where they are.

4) The Spirit filled person is a person of Peace. So far as it is possible for them they live a peace with everyone. They forgive before they are asked to, they seek the common good among believers. They are unified in their church and with other churches in the body of Christ.

5) The Spirit filled person is a person of Persuasion. They know the Gospel and when they tell it others are persuaded to believe. They are in the trenches building tomorrow’s church by winning today’s converts.

We want to be a Spirit filled church, but we must begin by being Spirit filled individuals. Today I challenge you to investigate your life. Are the marks of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit on your life? Are you the Spirit filled person that is needed to make your church a Spirit filled Church?

(STEPHEN COLAW)