We know that the Lord calls us to love our neighbor and give to those in need. But all of us have had times when we don’t really like our neighbor and we want to keep what we have rather than giving to someone with a greater need. How can we change our attitudes and viewpoints so that we can be charitable, even when we don’t feel like it?

Chris Bell, founder of Good Counsel Homes, stopped by Morning Air® to explain how we can continue to perform acts of love and mercy no matter how we are feeling.

“In our Church and in our world, no one else is like the Blessed Virgin Mary. All of us fall short of the glory of God. All of us sin,” Bell said. “And we know God, who loves us infinitely, wants us to love each other and love our brothers and sisters. Especially those who are in need today.”

God is love, and He made us to love. And in sharing the stories of the work Good Counsel Homes does Bell illustrated the power of love, the power of mercy, and how these help not just those in need, but help us as well.

“It’s part of the gift that the Lord has given us to be charitable” he said. “When I don’t feel like it, when I’m having a bad day, when I’m feeling like whatever I’m doing in life doesn’t make a difference, or when I think the whole world is corrupt … I can muster enough strength and courage to extend myself to somebody in need.”

“I’ve had the experience, and I’m sure other people have too, of feeling down and then I get a call from somebody who just lost a loved one, or just found out they have cancer, or somebody who is in great need. And then you automatically shift gears into thinking, ‘How can I help them?'”

“In doing that God gives a feeling of goodness, of usefulness, of joy that makes all of my troubles really vanish,” Bell continued. “Because there is always somebody out there who has more need than I do. Sometimes most of us don’t know what we can do, what resources we have, until we are faced with a challenge.”

Listen to the full conversation below:

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