John 3:30 reads "He must become greater; I must become less."  (NIV)  I ran across this verse in my readings today, and later thought of some of the people that our churches help financially.  This past Sunday we had an offering at Sharon UMC for a family short on paying rent.  I have more calls coming all the time from people needing various help, and I often wonder whether the requests are legitimate.

I was cooking sausage for breakfast (yeah I know, not healthy, but really tasty) and stopped to say a prayer for the family we just helped.  I prayed that they prosper and are able to make it through these tough times.  I prayed that they really needed the money and just weren't scamming the church -- after all, many of the people who handed me the money Sunday morning probably don't have a whole lot to spare, themselves.

Finally, I prayed that IF this family scammed us -- they either didn't need the money or they end up squandering the money on something else -- that God still use that special offering for His glory.  Because just maybe, even when we give money to people who may not be good stewards of that gift, the love of God shows in the offering we gave.

Maybe next week, next year, or next decade that person will remember that God's love and mercy touched a group of people so dearly that they reached out in love.  And I thought of this verse.  I thought of how we should do everything we do to God's glory, not ours.  It doesn't matter one hill of beans whether the people use the money to OUR satisfaction.  It only matters that the money we gave was to God's satisfaction, and God will use that money to help those people financially and/or spiritually.

Amen.