Spending time with homeless changes lives - yours and theirs

LIA volunteer Tommy Swim takes time to talk with a homeless man
named Henry in Dothan, Alabama.

Taking time to talk with the homeless means everything to them. Too often they are ignored.

When people are ignored, their self esteem gets lower and lower until, over time, they believe they have no value and accept that living on the streets is as good as it gets.When our Love In Action volunteers show the homeless love and compassion by simply sitting down to listen to them and talk with them, the homeless realize they do matter. They discover, sometimes for the first time in their lives, someone really does care about them. They see, hear and experience the love of Jesus Christ in action.

I thank all of Team LIA for allowing the love of Jesus to flow through you in so many beautiful ways. Sometimes it's through a hug, a smile, a prayer, taking time to listen, or by showing up to volunteer. The homeless know you could be anywhere else, yet you chose to be there to help them.

It may be on Saturdays to wash their clothes or serve them a warm meal. It may be serving on Thursday evenings at the Samaritan Clinic. The simple fact is you are giving of your time to make a difference in somebody else's life. Thank you.

Jesus says in Matthew 25:40, "as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."

As we serve others, we are really serving Jesus. That's life changing once you let it soak in.

Taking time to spend with the homeless can be life changing. It was for me more than 16 years ago when I bet a homeless person for the first time. His name was Nathaniel, and we were on the streets of Atlanta.

I saw a man with no hope, just existing, but not living. Darkness filled his eyes; no light, no spark of hope. My heart started breaking. After 30-40 minutes of listening to and talking and praying with Nathaniel, he went his way and we went ours.

However, just before he disappeared in the dark Atlanta night, he turned around and yelled, "Thanks for not ignoring me." God used those words to completely break my heart. My life was forever changed, and I'm forever thankful.

Over the years, I've been blessed to meet many wonderful people the rest of society chooses to ignore, laugh at, and call a blight on society. They may be homeless, but they are God's children. He loves them just as much as He loves you and me.

As Matthew Barnett of the Los Angeles Dream Center said nearly 15 years ago, "Once you put yourself in another man's shoes you will never be the same."

Those words still ring as true today as they did then.