"He said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!" Luke 14:12-15 (ESV)
We are often caught in the rip current of self-promotion. We habitually help others because, somehow, it helps us. We put on elaborate dinners, banquets, and parties so that others think well of us. We give, so that others think of us as generous.
The deception is subtle and powerful, and easily fueled by the endless opportunities to prove to our neighbors that we are who we claim to be.
The healthy help and regularly include those who cannot pay them back, who may not appreciate them. Their motive is love, their vehicle is service, and their reward is from God.
Those who genuinely care for others reflect God, which is the greatest privilege man can afford.
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