Poor folks

Yesterday I was a keynote speaker at an event conducted by Covenant House for street kids in downtown Atlanta. I really enjoyed talking to some of the kids, (teenagers), who attended. Most were graduating and preparing to make their mark on the world. They were very nice kids and polite as could be, and very excited about their future, though I could see in their eyes that they were tenuous about trying to break out of the street cycle into mainstream America. I let them know that some in society will have a tendency to look down upon them; however those same people could not make it five minutes on the street and to not let it deter them, because they can and will make it. I told them that solving the problems they would face in the business world is a cake walk compared to the problems that they have had to deal with while living on the street and they should do fine if they will stick with it.

What if? You did not have a penny to your name; you did not have a home; you did not have any friends or relatives? Where would you sleep tonight? What would you eat today? How would you pay for it? How would you take a bath? How would you get a job without education, nice clothes, and references? That is reality to these kids and yet they survive.

Just surviving takes tremendous skills. The problem is compounded because the streets are dangerous. There are people that will kill you, rape you, rob you, and beat you to a pulp. Street people have survival skills, but sadly most do not make it because there are not enough mentors or those interested enough to volunteer time or money to assist them in learning core values and spiritual lessons. In fact most people look down on them, fear them, and shun them. The need for organizations like Covenant House and Boys and Girls clubs is readily evident and if you do not have a favorite charity, I would recommend that you consider them.

I was asked to speak to this group because I fought my way out of similar circumstance and became successful. I told them that without Jesus Christ I could not have made it. He gave me a winning instead of a losing, defeated attitude, and then I supplied the strong work ethic. God strengthened me and gave me the perseverance to continue even through the dark times, but I had to stay faithful to Him even through those bad times that surely come to all of us.

Success in my opinion cannot be obtained without God by your side. I am not talking about some vague notion of a gentle spirit floating around the sky, Buddha, or Allah; I’m talking about the only true God Jesus Christ. Success is not measured in dollars or stock certificates, or boats, or planes, or real estate holdings; it is measured in peace of heart and mind that can only come from a close personal relationship with Jesus Christ who will forgive our sins. He willingly took our place on a cross to remove our sins once and for all. No matter how bad something is broken in our lives God can fix it and he wants to do so. I am a living testament to this.

Jesus loves the poor and much is written in the Bible about His love for them and His expectations for our behavior towards them. They are not sub-humans. They were designed by God just like everyone was and He loves them with all His heart and the Bible makes that very clear. What have you done for the poor in your community? If the answer is slow in coming, perhaps you could start today. It will not only put a smile on the poor person’s face, but on the face of Jesus Christ and of course your own face.

James 2:4
Has God not chosen the poor of this
world to be rich in faith and heirs
of the kingdom which He promised
to those who love Him?
But you have dishonored the poor man.
If you really fulfill the royal law
according to the Scripture, you
shall love your neighbor as your
self, you do well.