Wanting to Do Good? (A Story Concerning Poverty)

Simply wanting to do good is sometimes not enough. Lloyd Reeb (author of From Success to Significance) tells about visiting the country of Albania. Seeing a young Albanian beggar girl lying on a tattered blanket, her tears making clean lines down her dirty face, he wanted to do something. He quietly stuck some money in her filthy jacket and left. Sharing his story with a missionary, he was told, “That was the worst thing you could have done, Lloyd! You sentenced her to a life-time of street begging, for she is now branded as a very successful beggar!”