Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? - Matt. 6:25

    I know that serving your fellow man is worth more than all the riches of this world. While I was studying for the bar, I would wake up early in order to study and get in the right frame of mind. Each morning I notice a woman walking the streets outside local civic center. She was about sixty years old. I watched her every morning make her daily walk to the library. I don't know where she came from but she seemed to have a pattern. I began to study this woman as I would read my scriptures in my car. During the time, I was intently studying the words of Christ. His compassion for the poor seemed to draw my attention. 

    One morning as I read my scriptures, I saw this woman walking and I felt I needed to give her some money. I told myself that if she would walk closer to my car I would give her some money. I didn't want to walk across a parking lot and scare her. My thoughts were turned to Christ and how he never put conditions on his giving. In a moment, I felt as if I understood the message of Christ. He was teaching us to be proactive and to not only give but to go out of our way to find opportunities to serve. I opened the door to my car, got out, and walked across the parking lot. She turned to me and smiled. I gave her the change from my car. 

    Within the same week, I was driving to my class to study for the bar. I had a feeling to stop at McDonalds. I did and I took my scriptures in with me. I sat and read my scriptures. After a few minutes an African American man walked into the store, he was looking for money. He approached me and asked if I had any money. Before I could respond, he looked down at my Bible and asked me for some spiritual guidance. He shared with me his struggles of not being able to stop drinking and doing drugs. He talked about going to prison and how he was back on the path to going back soon. I listened and shared the gospel with him. With tears in his eyes he said that he was 40 years old and had nothing to show for his life. Under the guidance of our Heavenly Father, I told him that his life was only half over and he had another half to fill with good things. His face light up. Hope was restored to him. 

    I don't know if the money I gave to that woman changed her or the words I spoke to that African American man continued to give him hope. In all honesty, I nearly doubt it did much to change the course of their lives. It did teach me something. It taught me the true way to live. The true way to live is in the service of others.