"I could have gotten that for you."

That was the statement I heard from a young lady after an older man had bent down to pick up something that dropped from his hand a few years ago. When I saw that I wondered whether it wasn't better for the lady to have said nothing rather than say she could have helped. 

The first time I decided to write about this, I had to ask myself how many times I've had good intentions and not backed it up with action. No matter how good your intentions are, until you do something, the intentions are of no value to you or anyone else for that matter. At that time (years ago), I intended to share my learnings from this situation but life happened and I forgot about this post - talk about a good intention not implemented.

Now having to stay home and "more time on my hands" i.e. converting my commuting time to other purposes, I started looking through the things on my "Do later" list (a I have been advising others to) and found this as a half-written post. So I decided to follow through on that good intention...

"You can only make the world - starting with your sphere of influence - a better place by acting on your good intentions."* And by acting promptly just as Proverbs 3:27-28 says: 

²⁷ Do everything you possibly can for those who need help. ²⁸ If your neighbor needs something you have, don’t say, “Come back tomorrow.” Give it to him immediately. (ERV)

  

Remember the story of the brothers in the bible**? One said he would do something and the other did something that he had said he would not. Who obeyed their father? The one who did something of course. "Deciding to do something and doing something are 2 distinct things."*

Ephesians 2:10 is clear God planned for us to do good things and to live as he has always wanted us to live. This is why he sent Christ to make us what we are. (CEV)

And God expects us to live according to His plan - bringing His plan to life. Doing so may be something as simple as moving from thinking about people to actually voice or video calling them.

These days - and everyday - there are people around us that need our help one way or the other. In what ways can you move from intention to action and help those around you? #HelpingHelps

References:

*101 Quips and Quotes... by Ada Adeleke-Kelani 

**Matthew 21: 28 - 31