October 15, 2008

The Depths of Our Poverty

I have been blessed, to live in the USA, to have had a successful business career, to have a loving wife, to have come to faith in Jesus Christ.

I cannot say I personally know poverty on any level of my life, but I am aware of that fact now like I had never been aware of it before.

I came to place my faith and trust in Jesus as my Lord and Savior only about 5 years ago. In hindsight, I now see the poverty that was in my life, the dearth of true spiritual blessings and truth that comes only through Jesus.

Material poverty in the life is all too present, all around the world. Most of us living in America can only imagine how grinding poverty is in the lives of so many people, domestically and internationally. Most of us would probably do more if it really faced us daily, if we could not push it into the back of our minds. Sure, we might cluck sympathetically at sermons or at social gatherings when the topic comes up, but it is the rare few that take it on and fight it, head on and all out. I know that I do some, but no where near enough myself, I am not taking a superior attitude with anyone, I have no claim on the moral high ground.

We would do better as a nation if we addressed our spiritual poverty first, then let our new found love of the Lord spillover to loving others as we love ourselves. Maybe then we could make a dent in poverty at all levels, easing present suffering and insuring eternal peace as well. In this election year, we can talk about what government can and should do, what our tax dollars should be spent on and how much tax dollars should there be to spend. But it really needs to start on a personal level first. Nothing gets done like something you choose to do yourself, we all know that.

We should not be surprised at how much bodily poverty there is given the poverty of our hearts, but we should be appalled by it.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Andy,
I'm glad you got involved in this project. I wasn't aware of it until I visited your blog. Thanks.

Laurie M. said...

"We should not be surprised at how much bodily poverty there is given the poverty of our hearts, but we should be appalled by it."

This is beautifully and truthfully spoken. Would that we were as appalled about both kinds of poverty as we should be.