You Do Not Have to Give a Dime to Give Someone Dignity

Sometimes the most expensive thing in the room is not the money. It is the attention you refuse to give.

There are people whose stories can make you uncomfortable because they interrupt the story you have told yourself about how life works.

I met an older woman who is mentally alert and living on Social Security. Her budget is thin. The place she could afford was taken over after the owner passed away. It was fixed up. The rent rose beyond what she could pay. Suddenly, the home she had was no longer a home she could keep.

Now she is living in her car and trying to find somewhere she can afford.

It is easy to stand at a distance and ask, “How did she get here?” It is easy to decide that somebody else's hard season is too complicated, too sad, or too inconvenient for your day.

But that is not the question God keeps putting in front of me.

The question is: How can I make this person's life easier in the five minutes I am standing here?

Not every act of love has to be money. You may not be in a position to give. You may not know what help is appropriate. But you can still give a person dignity.

You can look them in the eye.

You can offer a smile instead of suspicion.

You can listen without rushing them through the part that makes you uncomfortable.

You can pray.

You can let somebody know that their existence has not become an inconvenience to you.

Money can quietly build walls around comfort. A comfortable home. A full refrigerator. A quick stop for coffee. A lunch you enjoy without having to count every dollar. None of those things are wrong. But if comfort teaches you to protect your peace from everybody else's pain, it has started asking too much of you.

God did not give you what you have so you could close the door on the person outside it. He gave you opportunities to love people well.

This week, do not decide in advance what somebody “should have done” before you give them your attention. Stay one minute longer. Ask one kind question. Offer one prayer. Let compassion be practical.

Prayer

✨ God, keep my comfort from making me careless with people. Help me to see the person in front of me, not just the inconvenience I want to avoid. Show me how to offer dignity, attention, and love in the moment I have. Amen.

Proverbs 22:2: “The LORD is the Maker of them all.”

Reflection Questions

• ✨ Where have you let somebody else's hardship become background noise because it made you uncomfortable?
• ✨ What could you offer in one encounter that costs attention, not necessarily money?
• ✨ Is there a wall of comfort you need God to soften in you?