January is getting away from me. I’ve been pleasantly busy for the most part (not overwhelmingly busy, thank goodness) and I haven’t been online as much. So today I’m going to tackle two of my action items at once, since I’ve been thinking about them in tandem anyway. The first is to reconsider where I give, and my motivation. And then to make changes as needed.
Talking about my money here is weird. So I’m not going to do it in any specific way. Instead, I’ll just talk a little bit about the conclusions I came to. I feel that God is still calling me to give what I am currently giving monthly, which includes my tithe (which I set up automatically in October in my month of Faithfulness) and a couple other recurring commitments that I am happy to support. But I have also felt called for a while to give regularly to an organization that fights human trafficking. Which brings me to the second action item for today, which is to explore the link between generosity and the pursuit of justice.
When I read the Bible, one of the things that God highlights for me over and over again is the idea of righteous justice. I think God shows us different things in His Word, and for me, it’s really been God’s heart for the oppressed, the widow, the poor, the orphan, the slave. And how He wants His kids (us, Christians) to get involved in bringing heaven to earth.
In particular, over the past few years, God has absolutely broken my heart for victims of sex trafficking. If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you’ll know what I’m talking about. I traveled to D.C. to go to the International Justice Mission’s annual prayer gathering, and I follow their work closely. I volunteer quite a bit of time with a local organization called Courage Worldwide, which is building homes for girls who have been rescued out of forced prostitution (or as I prefer calling it — rape for profit) here in Sacramento as well as other cities around the world. They offer a place of restoration and hope for them spiritually, emotionally, physically, and mentally. I’ve personally seen redemption — and it’s all because people give and give and give to this organization.
They could not survive without the generosity of their donors — both with their money and with their time. The only way the Courage Worldwide can bring heaven to these girls is by the generosity of others. Generosity equals justice.
I love giving my time to this organization, and I know that I bring a valuable service to them. I also want to give when I can, so I am going to start making monthly donations. They won’t be enormous, because I give a lot of time, but I know I can stretch my budget a little farther to give these girls the counseling they need.
I know that my generosity leads to justice for “the least of these.” Is there any better use of my time or money? I don’t think so.
Amen