Daily Power #132

Every good and perfect gift is from above. (James 1:17)

Years ago we were raising money for a new playground for the kids at our church. You know, the cool kind of playground with slides and tubes to crawl through, monkey bars, swings—the works.

Knowing our church parents would be excited to get behind this project, I recorded a short video to show an example of the playground we’d get for our kids. When the video was almost over, I looked into the lens and said, “Let’s give big because our kids deserve the best.”

At the time, I didn’t think anything of the video. It looked good, sounded good, felt good. Until a buddy approached me after watching the video during one of the weekend services at church. Steve had just returned from a mission trip to a very poor part of the world. The people in the village he served didn’t have running water, plumbing, or electricity. They fought daily to get enough food to survive. Most people died young, either from starvation or some treatable sickness. Steve told me all about the trip and showed me pictures of the kids that had nothing. Then he said, “Next time you make a video to raise money for a luxury like a very expensive playground, maybe you shouldn’t say that our kids ‘deserve’ it. They really don’t.”

Steve was right. Without even knowing it, I’ve been sucked into an entitled, demanding, and ungrateful culture. He helped me remember the importance of focusing our compassion on those with the greatest needs.

Power Lift

Lord, please give me wisdom and discernment so that I can channel my compassion toward the people who need the most help.