The Many Motives We Have- The Flip Side

  A couple of days ago, I wrote about the many motives we have as human beings. We can desire to share the Gospel, and really love people, and at the same time have a strong desire to be recognized for our great accomplishments! What a mixed bag we are!
  I encouraged people to not give up on loved ones or friends who appear to be rebellious or obstinate toward the Gospel. We tend to look at people and think to ourselves, 'They will never come to Christ. Not with a heart like that." While it's true that they won't come to Christ with a 'heart like that', we have to always remember that God is a God of the impossible. Many have come to Christ, who, prior to their conversion, had hearts of stone, and who also mocked God and killed or harassed believers.
   But we do have to be careful to not let people take advantage of us. We all need to learn to hear God's voice and become discerning. I have to think of David Wilkerson, at this point. He heard God's voice clearly, many times, and stepped out in faith and obedience. One of the hardest people he ever ministered to was a man named Nicky Cruz. I haven't finished reading (or listening to) The Cross and the Switchblade, but I do know that Nicky Cruz came to Christ and had a radical conversion. Yet, even David Wilkerson could not imagine Nicky coming to know the Lord, when they were first introduced to each other.
   We love people and want to help them. We give to the poor. We are heartbroken over people's circumstances. But we do have to be careful to not let people take over our boundaries.
  Many haven't learned how to set boundaries, for various reasons. We have boundaries though, and they need to be defined. Our pocketbooks have limits. Our time has to be rationed out. So, I am not saying that we should let people walk all over us when we are trying to help them. We set limits. It is a hard thing for some people to grasp, because they don't understand about limitations nor do they know the best ways they can be served.
  I think about a person I counseled with for a long time. I learned a lot from her. She had some good understanding of the church, but at the same time, some ideas were warped. She pointed out that the church in the New Testament days, got together and put everything they had together, and sold things in order for people's needs to be met. A few people in the church had helped this woman tremendously with their finances and time, and whatever other resources they had available. But this woman didn't stop there. She believed people in the church should not take vacations and spend their money lavishly, but I couldn't see where people were doing that. Sure, people were taking vacations. One couple we knew of went on a cruise. But it was completely paid for by someone else. So, are we being selfish when we go on vacations and buy new cars? Shouldn't we take that money and use it to provide a ministry for people like my friend? When we counted all the money that had been spent on her, we realized the money was not just a couple of hundreds of dollars, but we are talking about several thousands of dollars. Yet she complained that she needed a lot more from us.
  I am writing this because I believe we really should help people, especially poor people. But sometimes, people don't know where the limits are on others, and will try to manipulate them to give more money to them. We are not necessarily supposed to do that, although there may be occasions where we do that in order to provide relief. We also feel guilty because we give and give, but they always need more, and we can't keep giving. The Enemy of our souls, as well as those we are helping, makes us feel guilty or like a failure when we run out of resources to help them with. Don't fall for that trick.
  So the flip side of helping people with different (and even opposite) motives, is to set boundaries for ourselves, and, as best as we can, help the other person or people that we are working with, understand what we are doing. Boundaries protect us, but they protect the other person as well. Something to think about.