Series: Blessed Be
Psalm 112:9 ESV
The man who reveres God and follows the commandments of God is not a selfish self-seeking man/woman.
Psalm 112:9 tells us, “He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor;' his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor.”
When we read this we automatically think the writer of this psalm is referring to the man/woman who give away money. But the truth of the matter is that the generosity of this person extends far beyond coins or currency.
The old saying, if we give a man a fish he can eat for a day but if we teach a man how to fish we feed him for a lifetime.
In addition to that, when I was young and I was a volunteer for a local non-profit organization a wise person pointed out to me that by giving someone one coin instead of giving that person real skills we are taking the easy road. The truth is that knowing someone and being known is in itself a real gift.
When we take the time get to know the person and their dreams we can give the gift of self-respect.
Giving a person a dream for their future…something they can work toward gives them hope.
The obstacle with some becomes their personal history. Let’s suppose that every person is created with the will to survive and succeed. Even a small child has something they reach for. If you place three objects on a table (say three toys) the child will probably eventually choose one toy as their favorite toy. They may like that toy because of the color, or the feel, or because there is something that moves in a certain way.
If the child is given the opportunity to make a decision with that set of toys, that helps build their decision making ability. We can call that their first decision.
Then, if the child has older siblings (let’s say a sister and a brother) and the sister is the kind of person who likes to read and she doesn’t interact with her baby sister a lot, the young child will not learn to interact with her older sister.
The child’s older brother on the other hand loves people. He loves making people laugh. So, every time he sees his young sister he does something to make her laugh.
Which sibling will the baby notice more when they walk into the room?
If the baby is given the opportunity to make the decision to choose that could be the babies second decision.
Our ability to make decisions, and to make good decisions doesn’t suddenly appear at a certain age.
In this case if the baby is given the ability to make choices the child is learning how to fish.
The parent is giving the child a great gift.
If the parent carefully watches making sure the child is safe and is making decisions that will not harm them, the child will continue to build on those decision making skills.
Now…let’s say the opposite is true. If at some point the adult who is in charge of the child refuses to allow the child to learn to make choices because they want to make every choice for the child, the end result could be very different.
If there are three toys the child can see and the parent chooses the toy, not allowing the child to learn to choose, the child will eventually wait for the parent to make the decision. The child will not learn how to choose.
And if that parent forces the older sibling who prefers reading to playing with the child to play with the child, the baby will eventually acclimate to that sibling. The baby and the two older siblings are not given the ability to make small decisions on their own.
I know I’m oversimplifying, but work with me…
Now, let’s go back to the history of the person who was given a coin instead of being given a skill so they can build a life.
If that person was never given the opportunity to learn how to make wise choices in their life and they were only given a coin instead of being given good skills, how can they be expected to suddenly as an adult make wise choices?
The non-profit I worked with did temporarily offer meals to the people in need, but they also sought to train people.
The meal was a temporary means of survival.
The training accomplished several things.
It gave the person the ability to learn how to make a decision. For example if a person was given options…let’s say to learn how to cook, to learn to sew, or to learn how to greet customers who came in, eventually they could decide which skill they preferred.
Their real personality and God-given inclinations could have the opportunity to emerge organically.
Which gift is better?
Is it better to give a man a fish?
Or is it better to teach a man to fish?
Certainly giving a man a fish is easier, but long-term it isn’t the best choice for the man. I’m not saying it’s bad to give the man a fish…instead I’m saying give a man a fish and teach him how to fish.
Spiritual Practice: You
What might God be giving you the opportunity to do? Are you called to be an agent of change? Or are you an implementer? Ask God to show you the way to utilize your gifts.
In God, Deborah