Your email address is safe with us. View our Privacy policy.
Author Bio:
For 30 years, Christian leader and spiritual adviser Billy Graham has been offering advice to the thousands of readers who share their problems ...
Read more about By Billy Graham, Tribune Media Services.
For 30 years, Christian leader and spiritual adviser Billy Graham has been offering advice to the thousands of readers who share their problems ...
Read more about By Billy Graham, Tribune Media Services.
Am I A Fool For Helping People?
By Billy Graham, Tribune Media Services
Q: It seems like every time I try to help someone it turns out badly.
Am I a fool for trying to help people when they're down on their luck
and need a helping hand? I'd like to think it's the right thing to do,
but then when they just take advantage of you, it's hard to keep on
doing it. - Mrs. M.C.
A: Was the Good Samaritan in Jesus' parable a fool for trying to help the man who had been beaten and robbed and left by the side of the road to die? (You can read the whole parable in Luke 10:25-37.)
No doubt some people would have considered him a fool - including the men who had seen the man lying there and didn't make any effort to help him. Perhaps the keeper of the nearest inn also wondered if he was a fool, because he paid the innkeeper enough money to take care of the man for several days, while he continued on with his journey. He didn't know if the man would recover, or even what kind of person he was - but he still did all he could to help him.
What lesson was Jesus teaching through this story? He summarized it in four words: "Go and do likewise" (Luke 10:37). Elsewhere He told His disciples, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40).
Ask God to use you in the lives of people He brings across your path. Help them in every way you can - in His name. But most of all, point them to Jesus Christ. Let them know that God loves them, is concerned about them and wants to help them. God will bless you for it - and so will they.
========
Send your queries to "My Answer," c/o Billy Graham, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, N.C., 28201; call 1-(877) 2-GRAHAM, or visit the Web site for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association: www.billygraham.org.
(c)2008 BILLY GRAHAM DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
This news arrived on: 10/23/2009
Printer Friendly Version | Send this page to a friend | Post Comment
Rate This Story:
Great - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - Bad
Posted Comments:
10-26-2009 22:06
jb wrote:
Dear Richard S.
I also am a sinner, and have been so all my life, and will be till the day I die. Because I believe in Jesus Christ as my savior I look forward to an eternal life in heaven. I pray you do also.
I have lived in several places in the Bible Belt and #1 Not all living there are Republican, & #2 not all Republicans care only for themselves.
What is more those social programs you think are so helpful to "Americans who cannot afford them" may not be so helpful as promised. There are real reasons for people to oppose Healthcare Reform. There are a lot of unanswered questions about it that the Democrats don't answer and simply say "trust us". And even if those Democrats have the best of intentions, there is that unwritten law of Unintended Consequences. What about dumping so many millions of new patients into our already overburdened healthcare system without enough Physicialns to care for them? Can you say defacto healthcare rationing?
Read a little more widely Richard than just the Mainstream Media or the liberal blogs, cause that sounds like where you're getting your "information".
I have lived in several places in the Bible Belt and #1 Not all living there are Republican, & #2 not all Republicans care only for themselves.
What is more those social programs you think are so helpful to "Americans who cannot afford them" may not be so helpful as promised. There are real reasons for people to oppose Healthcare Reform. There are a lot of unanswered questions about it that the Democrats don't answer and simply say "trust us". And even if those Democrats have the best of intentions, there is that unwritten law of Unintended Consequences. What about dumping so many millions of new patients into our already overburdened healthcare system without enough Physicialns to care for them? Can you say defacto healthcare rationing?
Read a little more widely Richard than just the Mainstream Media or the liberal blogs, cause that sounds like where you're getting your "information".
10-24-2009 15:33
Richard S wrote:
Love Thy Neighbor
I am a sinner. I don't believe I am worthy. I pray Our Heavenly Father disagrees with me on that. Still, I care about my fellow beings. It irritates me that the so called Moral Majority and the Bible Belt seem to all be Republicans who we know only care about themselves. They are against Healtcare Reform. They seem to be against any and all social programs to help the Americans who cannot afford them. How in the world can they call themselves Christians? Is not one of God's commandments "Love Thy Neighbor"? What do those people think God meant by that?
Comment archive | Comment FAQ's
 |
 |
View Billy Graham ezine stories by date or visit the complete archive |
The ArcaMax Politics channel is one of 70 content categories offered by ArcaMax Publishing on this ... |
VideoSquares.com
