A common theme at the beginning of every year is about how to get slimmer. After the rich food over Christmas and New Year, we step up on the scales, have a look, step down and then usually consider changing to a healthier diet. After that, as we come into February and March, magazines will remind us about the need to fit into our swimsuits. That is yet another reminder to start denying ourselves fast food, cakes and sweets.
There are many messages that appeal to our vanity. Many advertisements prompt us into action on behalf of our own well-being. The main reason they give for this is: I have the right to feel good. I’m worth it. I have earned the right to treat myself to a reward. I this and I that!
If you are tired of this self-centred attitude, I have good news for you.
Please welcome the ‘health for the soul’ week, the self-denial week. (Warning! This might do your soul so much good that it will become an addiction. There are actually people who live generously during the whole year. This can become a habit, the normal thing to do.)
Instead of seeing yourself in the mirror, imagine that you are looking at an unknown brother or sister from one of our Partners in Mission Territories. Imagine yourself in these countries. Imagine that you are a woman, a young person or a man in Bangladesh, Malawi, Mozambique, Liberia or Sierra Leone. Imagine that you then have the opportunity to talk to someone in Germany about the self-denial collection. What would you say to the person who is looking in the mirror?Perhaps you would say something like this: How blessed you are to have a regular income in your family. Even pensioners can be sure of receiving at least some money every month. How blessed you are to live in a country where the taxes you pay actually come back to the people and do not end up in the hands of corrupt officials. You have systems that will assure you of health-care, schools and even good roads. How blessed you are that for 51 weeks of the year you can give your tithe offering to the corps in cash. It is simpler than giving a chicken or something from the fields.
Because you are so blessed, would you consider giving your tithe for one week and make a special offering to the people in my corps?
When I read the stories from our Partners in Mission countries, I can imagine hearing their voices. They encourage me to take some time to save money on food and other expenses in order to give more to them.
The self-denial offering is a world-wide event in all the 128 countries where The Salvation Army is at work. The family in Bangladesh or Malawi who give 1 Euro in their offering often sacrifice more than me, when I give 100 Euro. That fact challenges me to think about myself. Not in the commercial sense mentioned at the beginning. I will think about myself and consider how much I can do without so that I can give in order to keep God’s mission going in our partner countries.
You can read more about this year’s Self Denial collection here and some further facts from Mozambique here. That will be in German. (Click on the underlined word to open a link.)
This article was first published in Die Heilsarmee Magazin 2/2018