The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. Matthew 25:40
As you read this today, I will be off working at our church for our clothing closet for those in need. When my friend asked me if I thought it would be a good idea to do the clothing closet, I said, “YES”! Because we have been on the receiving end of this kind of blessing in the past.
In fact, my daughter would have had no school clothes this last year if it hadn’t been for a clothing closet this last summer in the next town over.
As we unpacked box after box and bag after bag of clothing that people donated tonight, I thanked God for the generous souls who gave. Because they didn’t just give their old yucky hand-me-downs. No, people donated more new and barely used clothes than I would have ever imagined.
Our tiny little town of 3,500 gave generously to help someone else. Someone they don’t know because they could.
Sometimes we just need someone to point us in the right direction; to provide the opportunity for us to give.
Today, I want to challenge you to think about how you can give back to your community. Could you organize a clothing drive and have a one day clothing closet event? What about collecting prom dresses and giving them to those in need during prom season? Or a food drive?
There are so many opportunities we might miss to bless someone else. How have you blessed your community? Please share your ideas in the comments! Your idea might spark someone else to act!
I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Matthew 25:36
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My heart is sad today, and this verse just hurts.. My brother left the halfway house he has been at for months. The only time he was not there was when he was in prison for a month. He never said what he was in for but he is an alcoholic.. so.. I hope he is not in prison again but I know the Lord will visit him wherever he is and look after him. I just wish I could be there to clothe and care for him in his illness, to visit him. My brother has ever been kind to me.. well, I have forgiven him for the times he wasn’t and he the same to me.. and I would be kind to him.. if I could.
I know, I know I can’t fix him. It is between him and God. All I can do is pray for him, and prayer changes things.
Here is another verse about being clothed that you may like,
Luke 12:27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Amy, I’m so sorry. That is so hard and I have been there as a sister, as a daughter. My heart aches for you and your brother. I will be praying for him. Sometimes that is the very best thing we can do for them, get on our knees and pray. Thank you for sharing. I pray others will see this and pray as well!
I’m sorry for what you and your family are going through, Amy. I’ll be praying for all of you.
I heard from him briefly yesterday, he logged onto facebook from a hotel business center. I still don’t know where he is but he did say he wanted my phone number when I asked and said he had to get a pen to write it down. He said he would contact me again in a few days.
Thank you for your prayers!
Oh BOY! I’m excited!
During 2009, I worked on a topic for the community called “The Next Best Thing to Money”. I even had a chance to give the presentation a couple of times in local churches. If only I had better marketing skillz! Only a handful of people attended.
If you’re wondering what IS the next best thing to money in this recession, it’s alliances. It’s even biblical. Ecclesiastes 4:9 -12
Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
The key thing to having successful alliances is making use of a spiritual gift that God has provided. It’s called the gift of discernment. The first alliance that should be sought out is a believer who has this spiritual ability. My husband has it. How it works:
The person with discernment meets a new contact.
WIthin minutes, the person with discernment either ‘likes’ or ‘doesn’t like’ the new contact. (they don’t know why they do or do not like the individual)
The contact that the person with discernment ‘doesn’t like’ is somehow unreliable, very selfish, manipulative or untrustworthy.
We don’t have to suffer through a trial and error process with our relationships!!! What I hope you’ll give back to the community is your participation in relationships. They don’t have to be additional sources of pain!
That is awesome! Thank you for sharing that 🙂
I like this verse, meaningful and lots of lesson. I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Matthew 25:36
Reading your post here, makes me remembered the tragedy in my home town. A typhoon hits our place and almost everyone had nothing left. I am lucky that our home is still standing and no one is hurt. What we did was we shared our old clothes to the victims who haven’t saved anything and give them food too..
I’m being emotional again..
Very inspiring post..This serves as an eye-opener to all the people of the world. Helping others can’t lessen what we have, instead we gained something from it.
Thank you for inspiring us through your blog.
Very inspirational post. I wrote one for my blog a while back about donating luggage for foster kids. I’ve seen way too many of them carrying around their belongings in black garbage bags. It’s very sad. So, I try to donate luggage or bags any time I get some free or can find something inexpensive. I recently ordered a dress for a special occasion. It didn’t fit correctly and I was in the process of packing it up to send it back, when I thought that maybe a girl could use it for prom. It’s nothing special but it’s basic black. So maybe it can get some use by someone in need rather than me having to pay the cost to send it back. I’ll be taking it to the rainbow room at our local CPS office this week. Thank you for the reminder that we need to watch out for and assist others.
That is a great idea about the luggage. We have too many bags around here. I will see where I can donate those 🙂 And I have dresses that I need to donate to a prom organization too. I’ll never wear them again but someone else would enjoy them!