Giving With No Strings Attached

Giving with No Strings Attached

Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Matthew 6:4

A few years ago, my husband read a book by a pastor whose church would close its doors on a Sunday morning several times a year and instead go out and serve in the community. This struck such a chord with Kyle that he brought the idea to our pastor and church family.

Everyone loved the idea, and since then, we have adopted it as our own. We’ve washed the windows of a local nursing home and brought gifts for its residents; we’ve landscaped a yard for an elderly woman who was unable to do the work herself; and we’ve cleaned up and painted local playgrounds around our city.

We do all this with little fanfare or praise; often, the people we help don’t even know we are a church group. Our goal is simply to help others outside of our church community, with no strings attached. We follow God’s command to give our gifts in secret so that our Father who sees would be the one to reward us. We want to see the needs around us and work to meet them because we love Jesus, not because we want glory for ourselves. We’ve found that we show this love best by loving others through our actions, especially toward those who could never repay us.

Although we may not all be part of a church or organization that regularly does service projects in our communities, we probably all know people who need our assistance, if we’ll only take the time to notice. Bringing a meal to a friend who has just had surgery, mowing an elderly neighbor’s lawn, or buying a meal for a homeless person are all ways that we can show kindness and give to others quietly, even anonymously, with no strings attached.

—Kendra

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

Do something in secret for someone who cannot repay you.