In my previous posts, I talked of the facts of poverty, with images that help make give a human face to the numbers, and I listed many Bible verses that specifically address the Lord’s concern for the poor.

Now you may be thinking: Okay, I get it. There is suffering and children are starving and dying. I had no idea there were so many scriptures that talk about poverty and what our response should be. What can I do? I’m just one person in the world.

Excellent question! Here are some ideas to help us in the war against poverty:

Six things you can do today to help fight poverty:

Pray. I believe in an all-powerful, loving God who listens to the cry of His people. I pray for them, especially the littlest ones that seem to suffer the worst. I also pray that the Lord would use me to help and to give me opportunities.

Give. Yes, money helps, but it’s not the only thing to do. Throwing money at a problem is a typical knee-jerk reaction for us Americans. How much can I donate to make the guilt go away? We need to give out of love, not because it’s easy and fast to write out a check. Giving your time may be a bigger sacrifice to make – I sure know it can be for me. Let’s give our time and energy to organizations that seek to help those in poverty.

Teach. If you are a parent, then teach your children about poverty around the world. Don’t be afraid to give them the honest truth. You may be surprised at the compassion and understanding from your children. Give them the chance to help out.

Love. Our motivation for everything we do.  Without love we are… just a loud, ugly noise. If I give everything I own to the poor, but have not have love, it’s a waste (I Corinthians 13: 1-3).

Go. The natural response of love. A soup kitchen in your city. A building project. There are many opportunities if you just look. Before I was married, I witnessed horrible living conditions in my travels to South America and Asia. My church denomination offers women’s mission trips to work with the poor.

You can also go to compassion.com right now to sponsor a child trapped in poverty. My family has sponsored an Indonesian girl for several years and I know our monthly support and letters are changing her life.

As for Number Six? I’m leaving that one up to you.

What can we do to fight poverty? Leave your suggestion in the comments, or write your own post, and I’ll link to it here.

Let’s inspire each other!

***

photo credit: angela7dreams