Remove the labels

Remove the labels!

This may hurt your feelings or make you mad at me but I really don’t care at what you have to say about this because it is so wrong. I want what I have to say to wake you up and make you think, because what is going on is not right.

I meet a man and woman today after work was closed who changed my life. The man looked at me with tears in his bright blue eyes as he began to speak, he asked if I had a minute to talk and I told him I did. He told me how he was homeless. He said that him and the woman were traveling and got in trouble with their car and got stranded in here Asheville. I asked him if he had a place to stay. He replied with a shaky voice saying that they slept in the woods in a tent that they had built with materials that they managed to recover from the dumpsters around town. He said they found blankets and try to keep warm but lately with the temperatures dropping it has been difficult to remain warm in these conditions. He told me how he would give up layers of clothes and blankets to make sure the woman he was with stayed warm. I asked him if he had food and he said that they hadn’t been able to afford any so I went and got what we had left over that they would throw out and gave it to them. They were overwhelmed with joy to see all that I had given them, even though; to me it was very small. I asked him if he applied for any jobs or if he was even looking for a job and he told me that he applied all over the Asheville area but nobody would consider him because he smelled and didn’t have nice clothes to wear to the interview. Did you just hear what I said? They wouldn’t give him even a chance because he smelled and didn’t have nice clothes. This is ridiculous. Here is a man trying to change his circumstances and yet nobody will even give him a chance. He started crying as he began to tell me that he was kicked out of several places that he tried to stay warm in because they didn’t want them to lose customers over having “hoboes” in their store. After I heard this I felt tears in my eyes and anger grew in my heart.

1st- WE ARE CALLED TO HELP OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS. We are “supposed” to be there for each and every person in our world who needs help. Even if that is a homeless guy you don’t know that smells or your boss at work. We are called to reach out and help in every way we can.

2nd- WE ARE CALLED TO LOVE. Do you know what the real meaning of love is? It means to show compassion, mercy, love is not prideful, it does not boast, love shows no anger, love sees no class, love sees no price tag. Real love is found in your heart when you see someone for not what they have but for whom God has made them to be.

3rd- WE ARE GOD ON EARTH. Everything we do, say, think, and watch all shows who God is to us. People are constantly watching our lives to see how we live and to see if we follow and do what we say we believe. If we don’t get out of our comfort zones then we will never see the hurt and need around us.

Every day of our lives God places people that we will meet and or come in contact with, that we are called to help in some way. My heart was broken when the man told me he was so confused on why I let him talk to me. He said that most people just see him as a guy with the label “homeless”. No one would even give him a chance for him to show the great man underneath. Yet, he said that when he was talking to me it was like the label “homeless” was gone and was replaced with “equals”. For a few short minutes that we talked the man said he felt like he was normal and that he could do or be anything he wanted. It touched my heart to hear him say this. As our conversation came to an end I gave him some money that I had and a few coupons for other restaurants so he could get a nice hot meal.

What makes me so mad about this is how self- centered we have become. We won’t get out of our bubbles, our comfort zones to help others. We have become consumed in money, sex, drugs, drinking, clothes, shoes, accessories, cars, expensive houses. We have become so focused on trying to show-off and impress everyone like friends, co-workers, family and better yet out fellow brothers and sisters that we go to church with. We focus on making sure that we have the best life and that we get everything we could want but what we don’t realize is how much we are actually missing out on. We all need to change the way we live and think. It’s not about any of those things that I previously listed. What life is about is showing God’s love and reaching out. We need to stop being so selfish and then become selfless.

An unknown author once quoted- it’s better to live a self -emptied where you give more than you receive, love more than your loved, care more than ever and try with all your heart than live a self-centered life where you only focus on you needs and wants. So my question for you the reader of this is, are you willing to change and do what God has called us to do or are you going to stay in your safety box while others are in need of our Gods love?

The choice is yours and you’re alone but, next time you see some “homeless guy” try this. Remove the label homeless and change it brother or sister in need. Maybe then you’ll see exactly what I experienced tonight. Life’s not about material things. Remove the label and set your heart free.

~Sam(God's Masterpiece)~