A Shirt For Me, A Meal For You

Last year someone asked me "If God is so good, why are there so many suffering children with nothing to eat?" I was thinking, thats a tough question to answer. Again, they asked "How can God sit there and let that happen?" I replied, "without suffering there can be no compassion". It may sound like a cheesy quote from A Walk to Remember, but it's true. Somehow though, even my own answer didn't sit too well with me. I started thinking about the millions of starving children in Africa. It's a brutal cycle, that continues on for generations. There is a lot of suffering but not nearly enough compassion! For instance, my closet is magnificent! My senior year of high school, I attempted to not repeat a single outfit for the entire year. (I know, that was awful!) I have enough clothes to feed a whole village for the next ten years. Sure, when I outgrow a pair of jeans I donate them to a charity. But do I really have compassion? Honestly, until this past month I have never actually taken the time to drop off my clothes to a charity. I usually put them in a bag and someone else does it for me. That's not compassion at all, that's convenience.

Why does God LET children starve? Then it hit me, He doesn't...I DO. I am the reason children starve. We are, all of mankind are the reason children starve. God says "blessed are those who are generous because they feed the poor" (Proverbs 22:9) There are too many bible verses to count that call His children to help each other! The rich are to give to the poor. Those who are able are instructed to help those in need. God does not want to see millions of His children in pain. Christians are called to do our part. If every person who was financially able to give ten percent to the poor or donate ten percent of their time to helping others I bet this world would look a lot different. God does not LET His children starve, He LETS His children let each other starve. He has given us free will to do what we please with our soul, our actions, and our money. 

God says a virtuous woman opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy ( Proverbs 31:20). Ladies, I am not saying sell everything you have and give it to the needy (although, Jesus has and does ask of that sometimes). I am not saying it's wrong to have an impressive closet. Have a special event coming up? Go buy a pair of shoes! Want to go grab lunch, but know you have food at home? Save that money, and give it to someone who really needs it. It's not a sin to have nice things. I truly believe that, but we have to ask ourselves are we doing our part to help others? Could you spare five dollars here? Maybe instead of buying three cute shirts settle for two and take the money you would have spent on that extra shirt and give it to someone who has only one single shirt.

Giving has never been easier. There are charities and organizations dedicated to giving to those who need help all over the globe. Here are a few of my favorite charities, and you can donate online. 

http://www.fmsc.org/  Feed My Starving Children foundation

http://demiandashton.org/  The Ashton and Demi foundation committed to raising awareness and ending child sex slavery.

http://www.bread.org/help/ Bread for the World