I came across this excerpt while reading last night. I found it to be intense and convicting. Even if you are not a Christian, I think the point can still be strongly made that we should give to people who are less fortunate. I hope you enjoy this passage. Have a blessed day!
Robert Murray M'CCheyne, a Scottish pastor who died at the age of twenty-nine in 1843, spoke of the mercy and generosity of Christians as the evidence that they were indeed Christians. He loved the poor in his parish, and he feared for those who did not look for ways to show them mercy.
"I am concerned for the poor but more for you. I know not what Christ will say to you in the great day....I fear there are many hearing me who may know well that they are not Christians, because they do not love to give. To give largely and liberally, not grudging at all, requires a new heart; an old heart would rather part with its life-blood than its money. Oh my friends! Enjoy your money; make the most of it; give none away; enjoy it quickly for I can tell you, you will be beggars throughout eternity."
Yikes! That's challenging. It reminds me of a possibly-apocryphal story about John Wesley, where he taught Christians to "make as much money as they can, but live on as little as they can, so they can give as much away as they can to those in need."
ReplyDelete