Reflection
And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers,
you will surely be rewarded
Matthew 10:42
Ordinary things can impact people in extraordinary ways. It isn’t about the value of the gift. It’s all about the giver and the receiver. The gift is not given grudgingly and out of obligation. It isn’t given with any misgivings about the receiver. The gift is given out of kinship because there is a need. The giver gives with compassion and respect for the dignity of the other. The gift is received without embarrassment or loss of self-respect. A bond is forged between the two. God’s love is alive in a simple act of kindness.
Prayer
The righteous gives and does not hold back.
Proverbs 21:26
Action
It is easy to give gifts to those we love. Examine your own attitudes toward those in need. Do you judge them? Do you support their right to assistance?
Suggested Reading
But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and God who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:3-4
Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.
Luke 6:38
It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.
Mother Teresa
For it is in giving that we receive.
St. Francis of Assisi
Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.
Lao Tzu
We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.
Winston S. Churchill
I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.
Maya Angelou
The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away.
Dorothy Day
A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.
Ralph Waldo Emerson