Give Yourself to the Poor by Bryan Craig

For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have Me.  Matthew 26:11 ESV

As I write this devotional, it is the anniversary of Mother Teresa’s launching of her ministry, Missionaries of Charity.  There is no doubt that this woman did an amazing work of love, sacrificing herself throughout her life on behalf of others.  I honor her.  As I read a few quotes from her, I was struck with some insights which confirmed what God has been revealing to me and our ministry.

She was quoted as saying: “There is a terrible hunger for love.  We all experience that in our lives- the pain, the loneliness.  We must have courage to recognize it.  The poor you may have right in your own family.  Find them. Love them.  Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than your own weakness.”

We are surely called, as Christ followers and His ambassadors, to help fulfill needs around us, if we have the means and ability to do so.  

But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?  1 John 3:17 ESV

However, there is a greater poverty than just materially.  Mother Teresa speaks to it in the quote above as she identifies the “hunger for love.”  There are many poor people in the world and opportunities for generosity, but there are countless individuals who are poor in spirit.  And I agree with her assertion that we need not go much further than our own families to find those needs.

I remember going downtown in Tulsa to help serve a homeless ministry.  They were passing out sack lunches and sharing the Gospel.  It was a great ministry, trying to meet physical and spiritual needs in the same moment.  As I observed this scene, I noticed two businessmen, in ties, walking past.  One man was curiously watching what was happening and the other man was looking down, refusing to cast a glance that direction.  I thought to myself, “I’m called to reach men like that.”  The crowd of homeless were poor in possessions, but this man was likely “poor in spirit.”  

You’ve probably heard the quote, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.  Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime.”  I like this thought, and I’ve seen many ministries who not only help people in poverty with immediate, critical needs, but more importantly, they help equip them to learn how to become self-sufficient.  This is important.

But doesn’t the same hold true for the “poor in spirit?”  We can give them a message of hope, including the Gospel, but Jesus would have us give them our lives.  I remember my small group back in Tulsa would have a heart to help a family in need at Christmastime.  I would call my friend Pastor Bumpers who ministered in a poor part of Tulsa.  He would be happy to give me a family to support, but he would always add this caveat, “I’d really like you all to get involved with this family, throughout the year, not just a one-time deal at Christmas.”

Again, meeting immediate financial and security needs is always going to be a way to show the love of Christ and the more we realize our resources are not ours, but His, the more we will give freely to those in need.  But we need to give our lives away in helping people learn how to become abiders in Christ and disciples of our King.  That is the best thing we can do for anyone, for it will change their life, their perspective, their self-image, and it will set them free from sin and the world to discover God’s plans for their life.  He doesn’t want anyone to live in bondage of this world, whether physically or spiritually.

Interestingly, Mother Teresa struggled internally.  She said, “My smile is a great cloak that hides a multitude of pains… People think that my faith, my hope and my love are overflowing, and that my intimacy with God and union with His will fills my heart.  If they only knew.”

Mother Teresa rallied hundreds of thousands to give their treasure to the poor, but she knew the greatest need was Love.  She longed for the love of Christ in her own life.  

May we keep making our first priority to abide with Christ, so we can be filled with His love.  Then, our job is to share that love and our lives with those in need, the poor around us, especially the poor in spirit.