It seems to me that you need to care for self in order to care for others. How can you minister effectively if you are in desperate need to be ministered to? If you find it to difficult or impossible to sacrifice for others, it is the time to take of self or have others minister to you so that you can.
The commandment is that we are to love our neighbors even as we love ourselves. The ideal is that we are supposed to care for self and care for others more or less concurrently.
How one achieves that is always a matter of individual discernment, individual judgement, and individual choice. Still, within that ideal we can see that balance and boundaries must predominate in our choices.
This is one of the thorniest issues of Christian theology. There are passages in the New Testament such as the ones you have quoted. There are also passages saying that ALL you have to do to enter the Kingdom of God is accept Jesus, repent of your sins, and strive to sin no more. You will be forgiven, if you sincerely ask.
There are a thousand examples of hypocrisy about giving to the poor. For hundreds of years, the Catholic Church has preached ministering to the poor, yet the Vatican is filled with gold and riches that could do much toward this goal. Even today, the Pope could sell a single tapestry that would feed a starving village for a year - but he does not do so.
For myself, I recognize that God is Love, and so if I feel called in Love to minister to someone, I try to follow that. This means that sometimes I give to a homeless person, and other times I sense that I am being scammed, or that the money will just feed his drug addiction. Am I wrong to make this judgement? I don’t know - but I try to let a God-inspired Love be my guide. And I am asking forgiveness, all day long, for my errors. God knows what is in my heart.
I see you trying to follow Jesus, Peter, and am confident that God will also forgive your errors. He knows what is in your heart - and there is so much good in you! Bless you always.
It seems to me that you need to care for self in order to care for others. How can you minister effectively if you are in desperate need to be ministered to? If you find it to difficult or impossible to sacrifice for others, it is the time to take of self or have others minister to you so that you can.
We have a duty to God to take care of ourselves.
We have a duty to God to take care of others.
The commandment is that we are to love our neighbors even as we love ourselves. The ideal is that we are supposed to care for self and care for others more or less concurrently.
How one achieves that is always a matter of individual discernment, individual judgement, and individual choice. Still, within that ideal we can see that balance and boundaries must predominate in our choices.
This is one of the thorniest issues of Christian theology. There are passages in the New Testament such as the ones you have quoted. There are also passages saying that ALL you have to do to enter the Kingdom of God is accept Jesus, repent of your sins, and strive to sin no more. You will be forgiven, if you sincerely ask.
There are a thousand examples of hypocrisy about giving to the poor. For hundreds of years, the Catholic Church has preached ministering to the poor, yet the Vatican is filled with gold and riches that could do much toward this goal. Even today, the Pope could sell a single tapestry that would feed a starving village for a year - but he does not do so.
For myself, I recognize that God is Love, and so if I feel called in Love to minister to someone, I try to follow that. This means that sometimes I give to a homeless person, and other times I sense that I am being scammed, or that the money will just feed his drug addiction. Am I wrong to make this judgement? I don’t know - but I try to let a God-inspired Love be my guide. And I am asking forgiveness, all day long, for my errors. God knows what is in my heart.
I see you trying to follow Jesus, Peter, and am confident that God will also forgive your errors. He knows what is in your heart - and there is so much good in you! Bless you always.