Ever Been Taken for a Ride?

Have you ever helped someone who was down on their luck and then found out that they were taking advantage of you or playing you?

They were able to convince you that they were in dire straits and they convinced you to give them something like money, food, clothing, shelter, a job or a car.

What did you do? How did you feel when you gave them something? How did you feel after you found out they took advantage of you?

Many years ago we helped a couple that had moved to our area from California and this family ended up in difficult circumstances. The man had accepted a job in our area, moved his family here, worked a few days and then lost his job.

They were a family with two young kids and went to our church. They were nice people and we got along well with them.

We invited them to our house many times for dinner and my wife ended up buying food and other stuff for the woman and the children when they went out together. We were glad to be able to help although at that time we weren’t making a lot of money.

We started giving them money every week for several weeks to help with groceries and other expenses. Giving that money impacted the lifestyle of my wife and I and our small kids. But we were glad to help.

After awhile it seemed like they were taking advantage of us. The stories they told got twisted around, it seemed like there were some contradictions and the guy had all these grandiose plans that never seemed to work out.

We decided to stop helping them after we discussed them and their situation with some other families from our church. It turned out that these families were also helping the other family. Our friends were beginning to have doubts also and for similar reasons.

After we stopped giving them money the family stopped calling us and didn’t come by. I think we may have ‘called them’ on the situation but I can’t recall definitely.

Were we wrong to stop helping them? I don’t know but it did not stop us from helping others. We do it because it is all God’s money and He asks us to take care of others out of the portion He gives us.

Craig Groeschel at Lifechurch.tv is beginning a series on a topic titled ‘Hostage’. Watch the video at his blog site. It is compelling. I had forgotten this family I talked about above but this video brought back some of the thoughts and feelings. I think there is a twist somewhere in the messages he will preach.

Is there a story you can tell or need to tell to get it off your chest? Don’t stop helping others.

Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYERgGRUn0A&eurl=http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/

Craig’s Blog
http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/