ADD VALUE TO PEOPLE; CHARITY
There are a lot of people in the world today who are homeless, poor, others are completely unable to support their other families. The question we should ask is how do we feel when we meet these kinds of people?
“ sympathy” that’s the right emotion that most people feel when they meet this kind of person.
If we think deeply, we would ask another question is sympathy really enough? merely feeling sorry for the situation of someone doesn’t change their situation it doesn’t even make it better by 1%.
Having sympathy for the less privileged and poor is a good thing but not assisting them in any way Is really bad especially when you know that you have the means to assist the owner.
Remember those things you have is from God and was given to you for the need of you and others. It could be material things or your gift, just use it wisely and lend a helping hand in any little way you can, who knows the soul you are saving.
We saw a post during the COVID 19 crisis, it happened in the northern part of Nigeria, one man went to a restaurant near his house to buy food on credit because he and his entire household have not eaten for three days but because he has some dept pilling up for him at the restaurant, the owner refused to sell on credit, saying she doesn’t have money to buy ingredients to cook the food.
The man went and sat on the chair outside the restaurant, bent his head on the table. People were coming in and out of the restaurant to buy food, they thought the man was sleeping. By the time a good samaritan came to rescue him, they found out he was long gone. A little help can go a long way in bringing a dead soul back to life.
There’s a popular saying That’s “A person with full pockets should have a long table.”
It’s our responsibility to reach out to those who cannot take care of themself through our resources, Money, shelter, or even through charity organizations.
But there is a little disclaimer, how exactly are we supposed to add value to people when we have barely added value to our lives, our families, relationships, or even our careers and jobs. There is a popular saying “that charity begins at home” the word home in this context is not just talking about a house with our family members in it.
Again that person in your care, how well are you treating them? It’s nature that brought bought of you together so be careful because you don’t know where you will meet them again. They might be your servant or maid today but who knows what tomorrow holds.
It entails our personal lives, relationships, careers, and societal values.
Humans tend to understand a concept better when it is applicable to them. Adding value to people can be achievable when you understand what value really is because you can only successfully execute a particular task when you know it’s important and relevant.
In life, there are certain things that you can barely understand Especially when you haven’t experienced them. Creating value, supporting charity organizations, Or personally Reaching people with the aim of helping them out is a quality possessed by few in our society today.
Let’s try to grasp the meaning of charity as this will help us Get a better understanding of the concept we’re trying to discuss today.
What is the true meaning of charity?
According to the Oxford dictionary, charity is a voluntary act of giving help typically in the form of money to those in need of it.
Charity is An act of kindness shown to someone without any motive of getting something in return. It is basically helping people who are in need.
There are different people in the world and different kinds of needs or problems; the particular need of a person could be money, food, shelter, or certain other assistance.
for example: There was a 14 year old boy who has been saving all his allowances in order to buy the latest gamepad. He sacrificed all his money for pizza, ice cream, and many other things he normally buys with his allowance just to be able to get this latest gamepad.
After saving for five months his money was finally complete and he was so happy he couldn’t wait to buy this new gamepad and show off to his friends.
On a set day, he decided to get pizza before heading to the game store. He was close to the pizza store when he saw something quite depressing.
There was a tiny looking woman and a kid rummaging through the trash for leftovers and he felt so sad.
All this way he was saving to get a new gamepad while someone else just wanted food to survive. He walked over to the lady and handed over his money for his new gamepad and walked away happier and fulfilled.
Our character doesn’t know this woman, he just met her but he added value to their life by sacrificing his money for people that he might never get to meet again. This is what charity is about, doing things for people without expecting anything in return.
What is charity according to the bible?
According to First Corinthians chapter 13, Charity is love at an advanced level. It was likened to the love God has for a man that empowered him to send Jesus to die and redeem mankind.
The attributes of charity according to the bible include ;
- Kindness
- Patience
- Never proud
- Doesn’t keep records of wrongdoing
- Trustworthy
- Perseveres
- Protects
- It is never selfish
These attributes should serve as guidelines to anyone who wishes to engage in the act of charity.
Purpose of charity
The major aim of the charity is to render assistance to people in need through admonitions, encouragement, money, or any other specific requirement.
What is value?
The oxford dictionary defines value as the importance, usefulness, or worth placed on a particular thing or person.
What you don’t value, you do not take care of. You use or treat it anyhow because you believe that it can do nothing for you.
Many people do not place value on themselves self so how can they add value to other people? You have to value yourself enough to do better and develop more capacity for yourself.
How to add value to yourself
The major value in life is not what you get. The major value in life is what you become.
Jim Rohn
The first thing to do in order to add value to people is to add value to yourself. This is a choice that can be made by you alone, you have to make the decision to give more love, attention, and care to yourself.
Enough with the self-criticism, pessimistic attitude, self-hate and comparison. Learn to love yourself more, add value to yourself, and then to other people.
Cultivate the following attitudes and add value, importance, and usefulness to your self.
- Eliminate the habit of comparing yourself with other people. Everyone has their unique capabilities it is up to you to discover your strengths and feed them regularly so that they can flourish. A group of people might start the same business at the same time within the same location but just one person might excel. Why is this? To succeed you must be willing to sacrifice your time to add value to yourself either by asking questions from your seniors, reading books, market analysis or implementing a great customer, etc. This extra processes you went through was basically a journey to add value to yourself and excel in your chosen venture. If for any reason you want to compare yourself, it should be with the past version of your self.
- It’s either you appreciate yourself and the things you have now or you might lose them. There’s a saying that “the value of a needle is no noticed until it is lost.” This should not be the kind of person you are, appreciate those little milestones you have achieved and you will achieve much more.
- Stay far away from people that make you feel worthless, irrelevant, and valueless. You are on a journey of adding value to yourself so you need to get rid of such people.
- Be consistent in whatever you are doing, your goal is to add more value to yourself so you should not stop until you have completely achieved it.
What does it mean to add value to someone’s life?
This means that you care enough about someone worth and feel like the person deserves more than they presently have. This makes you willing to assist the person in order to help them create more value for themselves.
How to add value to people
You can add value to people through your words, money, time, etc.
At work
- Be willing to offer an encouraging word to a colleague having a bad day
- Offer helpful contributions that are beneficial to the wellbeing of your workplace.
- Be nice to junior staffs
- Identify some co-worker that never go for lunch and offer to buy them lunch.
- If you own a car, you could help some colleagues save transport by giving them a ride.
- Learn more useful organizational skills.
At home and within your environment
- Welcome the new neighbors warmly.
- If you are asked for financial assistance, try to help out even if it’s little.
- Don’t neglect charity functions.
- Engage in inspirational and motivational conversations.
- Don’t just throw away old clothes without considering that person that lives on the street.
- Drop donations into the charity box.
Importance of Charity
- To assist people in times of need or in emergency situations such as war, hunger, pandemic or natural disaster.
- To provide education for children from poor families.
- Giving fills one with a sense of happiness.
- The charity has provided for a lot of non-government organizations.
- The charity has provided a medium for less fortunate kids to live a comfortable life.
The charity has done a lot for people. The money you donate, the words you offer and those little assistance has helped lots of life.
Don’t stop, keep impacting the lives of many people in the world.
