Overflow

The desire to help another human being is not enough.
Some are naturally inclined to help those in need. For a period of time, this can be exchanged for the ultimate purpose for meeting people’s basic needs.

Jesus used meeting people’s basic needs to show His love which ultimately opened doors for Him to meet spiritual needs as well. His ministry was filled with miracles.
We are innately selfish. The most selfless, kind-hearted individual doesn’t have enough stamina to love others in and of themselves over a period of time. 1 John 4:19, “We love because he first loved us”. We are only capable of loving one another because we have first been touched by his love and we use that as our example and standard.

There is a great need where I am. Most families live on less than $2 a day. The majority of initial reactions to seeing extreme poverty are selfless. We want to help immediately. The problem is that the simple desire to help someone is not enough. The Lord desires us to see peoples needs spiritually as much as we do physically. Matthew 9:36, “When He saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

I’m trying to understand what it means to meet peoples needs outside of myself. Coming to an understanding of Christ’s love overflowing from my heart is key. Biblically, we should care for those in need because Christ cared for us in our deepest hour of need. What the world sees as Christ like behavior in our lives should be directly related with Him being the complete satisfaction of our hearts. If He alone fills our cups, they will overflow to those around us, just as He intended. Because He loved us first, we are now enabled to do the same.