Money is not always the solution to help someone in need. While material wealth can bring material abundance, often it is not a factor for inner abundance and fulfillment.
... but do not have love, I am nothing... (1 Corinthians 13:1)
Unfortunately, in the year 2024, there are people lacking basic material goods.
However, I believe that the unequal distribution of wealth is not the real problem of our days. Inner wealth needs to find balance and establish itself within a humanitarian framework first.
The internal need for acceptance, understanding, recognition, and love are essential for a healthy mental disposition in a person. As souls, spirits, and bodies, we need mental and spiritual wealth to balance all aspects of our existence.
A war brings mental and spiritual unhappiness because losing the people you love is the greatest blow, greater than losing your possessions. Not feeling internal completeness is a heavier burden than not having money to buy new clothes. Every day, we encounter people who need our help, and this help is not solely of a material nature.
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John 4:14
ὃς δι᾿ ἂν πίῃ ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος οὗ ἐγὼ δώσω αὐτῷ, οὐ μὴ διψήσῃ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ἀλλὰ τὸ ὕδωρ ὃ δώσω αὐτῷ, γενήσεται ἐν αὐτῷ πηγὴ ὕδατος ἁλλομένου εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον.
[eng] but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Perhaps the person next to you on the bus needed a kind word to brighten their day. Maybe the neighbor needed a smiling "good morning" to temporarily forget the tax bill.
Could the person you passed in the supermarket aisle be seeking two words filled with love and acceptance to change their perspective on the internal injustice they feel?
Romans 12:9-10
Ἡ ἀγάπη ἀνυπόκριτος. ἀποστυγοῦντες τὸ πονηρόν, κολλώμενοι τῷ ἀγαθῷ,
τῇ φιλαδελφίᾳ εἰς ἀλλήλους φιλόστοργοι, τῇ τιμῇ ἀλλήλους προηγούμενοι,
[eng] Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
It wasn't by chance that you sat at adjacent tables or walked on the same sidewalk. Maybe someone had a melancholic demeanor because they needed two words to fill their heart with warmth.
And that thoughtful girl might have needed someone to gently pat her shoulder and say, "Everything will be okay, don't lose hope; I love you as you are!"
Mark 12:30-31
σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς διανοίας σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ἰσχύος σου. αὕτη πρώτη ἐντολή.
καὶ δευτέρα ὁμοία, αὕτη· ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν. μείζων τούτων ἄλλη ἐντολὴ οὐκ ἔστι.
[eng] Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Therefore, let's not wait for our wallets to be full to help. We all have each other!
Two words, a smile, a kind touch, a warm hug can help more than we think!
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