‘Give the world the best you have…’

As we’ve reflected upon over the last few days, Lent is a time of change, renewal, and starting afresh. But why is it so important to change ourselves, if God loves us exactly as we are? After all, aren’t we made in the image and likeness of God? Yes, we are.  But as someone once said, ‘God loves us as we are, but He loves us so much that He won’t leave us as we are’.

To me, this means we are ‘a work in progress’ - we’re nowhere near finished yet!

Why particularly during this time leading up to Easter do we make a conscious effort to do good and to be better people? Well, for a start, we owe it to God. We try and do our bit for Him because there’s no one better to pull the stops out for!

But not only that. The change in ourselves doesn’t just honour Him; we’re also doing our bit for others. We all have busy lives. At the end of each day we often ask ourselves  ‘Where has the day gone?!’ It is so easy sometimes to think the world revolves around only us; to walk around in our own little bubble. We try to find solutions to our own problems, worrying about our this and that.  We forget that we share a world with nearly 7 billion other people. Their problems, in comparison, can often make our own look trivial, even silly.

"If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back." 
Regina Brett

So we try and change during Lent to become more selfless, to put others first. To give more of ourselves to God and to others. We sacrifice our time, energy and generosity for our neighbours, putting them before ourselves. We’re following in Jesus’ example – Jesus who paid the ultimate sacrifice on the cross.

It may be that our acts of kindness aren’t always truly appreciated. We might not get the praise or recognition we think we deserve. However God always recognises our acts of kindness -

"In truth I tell you, in so far as you did this to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me.” Matthew 25: 40

Here’s a lovely reflection on giving from Mother Teresa of Calcutta, another great example of love and self-sacrifice:

"People are often unreasonable and self-centred. Forgive them anyway. 
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. 
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. 
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. 
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. 
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway." 
— Mother Teresa

Sarah Burrows, 19

St Helens

French & Hispanic Studies at Sheffield University