The answer can feel both clear and complicated. Isn’t that often true of life’s biggest questions?
You could ask a hundred people and receive a hundred answers, but you’ll typically find common threads woven throughout, along with common doubts. Let’s explore some of those.
Why do we give when we could keep? Why do we care when we could look away? Why do we show up when no one asks us to?
Think about your favorite fruit. Maybe it’s an orange, a banana, or the classic apple. Let’s say it’s an orange. That orange came from a tree that began as a tiny seed, grew with help and nourishment from the soil, and eventually produced fruit for others to enjoy. In the same way, maybe the fruit you bear isn’t simply for you; maybe it’s for others.
What if the gifts we receive in this life aren’t simply ours to keep, but responsibilities we’re meant to steward for the good of others and our community? What if we serve because we’ve been given something worth sharing?
Sometimes we serve because we know what it’s like to receive help. Someone was there for us when we needed it. Someone invested in us or believed in us. At some point, we realize we can do the same for someone else. We can share what we have.
But if we’re meant to share what we’ve been given, sometimes a natural question follows: What if what I have isn’t enough?
We won’t all have the same things to give. One person may have time. One may have financial resources. Someone else may have a particular skill, an important connection, or simply the willingness to sit beside someone who needs to know they’re not alone.
Sometimes we convince ourselves that what we have isn’t enough, or that we couldn’t help anyone else. We tell ourselves the need is too big, the problem too complex, or someone else is more qualified. But what if the issue isn’t whether we have enough, but what we’re meant to do with what we have?
Maybe we’re not capable of fixing everything. Maybe we’re just responsible for what is within our reach. Maybe it’s one need. One person. One opportunity. One moment when we choose to step forward with our fruit instead of walking past. Let that be enough.
Service has never required that we have everything. It has never demanded that we have all the answers. It simply asks us to use what we have. Sometimes the things that seem ordinary or insignificant in our own hands become something extraordinary in someone else’s life. Our fruit is meant to nourish others. That is why what we give matters.
Again, why do we serve? Sometimes we serve because we see a need we can’t ignore. Sometimes we serve because we believe what we’ve been given isn’t just for us.
“To whom much was given, of him much will be required.” Luke 12:48.
Maybe that gives us part of our answer. But what about you? What will you do with the fruit you’ve been given? The point is not to hold it back, but to use it.
Maybe the real question isn’t simply: Why do we serve? Maybe it’s: What happens when we do?
The Millan Foundation comes alongside life-changing nonprofits that have already made that transition. They’ve identified the need. They’ve found their why. Now they’re asking the next question: How can we make a difference together?
Continue helping us 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 by subscribing to our newsletter > https://millanfamilyfoundation.org/stayconnected
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