I roll up my car window when beggars approach. Why should I risk feeling bad about having them indulge in something they don’t need when I can do the same for myself and feel good about it?
I can always find a reason to not give. I don’t have time to fill out the paperwork, or the instructions are too vague. I am not sure how much the relief agency is profiting on this effort. Maybe they already have enough donors and the money will sit unused.
So in order to make the answer very simple, I indulge in self pleasures. I know where it goes and I know how it makes me feel.
It is a tough habit to break. And truthfully, it is a tough habit to want to break. We leap from crisis to crisis, from disaster to disaster, from tragedy to tragedy. All the while, I find myself throwing out the envelopes with hungry children’s faces, turning the channels from the last flood, hurricane, fire and war. Don’t let me start with the abused animals. After all my giving won’t stop the next disaster.
However, that being said, if I am staring in your car window one day…, indulge me please, or at least, help feed my dog.
Proverbs 21:13 He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor, will also cry himself and not be answered.