"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh..." Romans 8:16 as Paul wrote. Look out for the interest of others. Care for one another as Jesus did. Love thy neighbor as yourself right? When I think about it, I find myself running in circles. I first ask the question, do I love myself? It's hard to come by because then I start to sound selfish and that's not what God wants.
You know what, scratch that, God just put a story in my head of a situation as such so I'm going to tell you about that.
About two years ago I was hanging out with some friends and we wanted to go and get some frozen yogurt. Can't remember what we were doing but that doesn't matter. We walked in the shop, "hi how's it going?" I called out to the lady behind the counter. "Good, welcome, how are you guys?" My friends didn't answer and kept walking, "good, thank you!" I called out. My friends went and got their yogurt I was behind them. We were all paying separately so it didn't matter if we stood in line together. A young lady came in after us and got in line between my friends and I. They paid and went outside waited for me. The lady in front of me went next. She paid and was talking to the lady behind the counter off to the side. Walking up to weigh my yogurt, "hi, busy tonight? I asked. "Hi, not to bad." She stated. "3.47$, please" reaching into my pocket and pulling out my wallet. Looked for cash, didn't have any, look in all my other pockets for cash too, didn't have any. Went to grab my debit card and gave it to her. The lady behind the counter was talking to the lady that got in front of me. Slid the card, "declined." As my heart stopped. Not extremely worried but not a situation I wanted to be in. "Could you try it once more, it's an old card and magnetic strip sometimes doesn't work." "Sure thing." The lady that was infront of me was standing to my left. She had a face that said, "hi, how are you doing!" as she continued to eat her yogurt as mine was melting in front of me, yelling at me, saying, "ha ha ha, you don't have any money." I knew I didn't have much on my card. Not even having three dollars and forty-seven cents as she said again, "declined." "Okay, one second please." I stated walking out to my friends asking them for some help. "Nah man, I barely had enough to buy this." "Alright, thanks." Walking back inside wondering how I'm going to pay for this. Ruffling through my wallet as the lady on my left knew I didn't have any money to pay for this. I was looking for gift cards, prepaid cards, anything, wait, found a penny, that didn't help. Still looking through every pocket on my shorts I heard, "how much is it?" The lady next to me saying. "Oh no, it's okay, really, I don't need it." I stated. "Oh no, I want you to have it, just remember me when you run into a situation as such. I would hope that you would do the same." "Thank you so much, I really appreciate it." With a big smile on my face and red cheeks because I was so embarrassed. I turned to the lady behind the counter, "thank you." Turned to the lady to my left, "thank you so much again!" I stated and began to walk outside. "Were you able to pay for it?" A friend of mine asked, "no, a lady inside that was in front of me helped me out." "Cool man." They stated as we climb into the car. Still having the thought of what she had said floating around in my head. What she had said impacted me. For me, it was never about money, just having fun and enjoying time with others. As days and week went by, every time I was out I looked for a situation as such to do as she had done for me. It was so nice of her to do something like that. To this day, I'm always willing to help others with money situations. I don't expect anything in return except for your company. Money isn't the world, but Gods love is. She had shared her love with me that day, and I didn't even know God at the time. If I had, I would have never even gone to the yogurt shop that night. The world would say that was good karma. I would say, that was God helping me out because He loves me. So next time you are out shopping or buying groceries or at a restaurant, remind yourself to always look out for the interest of others.
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