Let’s End Poverty For Good

The only thing that stands in our way is selfishness. Why let that stop us?

Jeremy Affeldt
Jul 25, 2017 · 3 min read

What are we supposed to believe about God’s purpose when a newborn baby starves to death?

What plan could God have possibly had for that baby?

That’s a tough question, and I don’t claim to know the answer.

But I wonder, why blame God? What are we doing for people who are literally starving to death? If we wanted to end poverty, we could. There’s enough money in this world to end poverty immediately.

But we don’t do it. The reason is sin. Selfishness keeps us from eliminating poverty once and for all. Was it God’s purpose that a newborn baby starved to death? Or did it die because we didn’t do anything about it?


When I face questions like this, I think about the Lord’s Prayer. I think God has a plan. I think God has a perfect plan! It’s a plan that’s going to work. And there’s a role in it for everyone.

Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done.” As His ambassadors, we are called to help bring God’s love to the world. We are called to help bring His kingdom. We pray for it, we look for it, and we long to be a part of it. So we look for opportunities to be involved in bringing it.

Well, look around you. Everywhere you look, you see incredibly talented people working on poverty-related issues. We do not struggle with a lack of incredible ideas for ending poverty. We have an abundance of them!

We are overflowing with opportunities to bring the kingdom. No matter where we work, we can do so much. We can love so much!


I don’t really know how much I can or cannot do, but I intend to find out. I’m going to do as much as I possibly can. You see, my biggest fear is that I’ll sit before the throne of God one day and He will say to me, “You gave me 90% when I needed one hundred.” I don’t want Him to say that. I want to hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

I’m not working for my own salvation. I don’t have to. By the blood of Jesus, I am saved.

No, what I’m trying to do is be a light. I’m trying to be a city set on a hill. (Matthew 5:14)

I don’t want to be one of those cities that didn’t do enough to light up the world. God is calling! I’ll make sure that I do what He wants me to do, whether that’s getting food to starving people or clean water to people whose water makes them sick. I’ll do as He asks, whether it’s providing homes for orphans or safe houses for victims of human trafficking.

I’ll do everything that I possibly can to bring God’s kingdom, and it won’t be hard at all. Look around you! There are opportunities everywhere. We know His purpose for us. It’s love. If you want to bring the love, you can start right now!

I am the author of To Stir a Movement: Life, Justice, and Major League Baseball (2013), and my second book is in the works. Visit my Huffington Post page here. I blog here. Follow me on Instagram & Twitter: @JeremyAffeldt.

Jeremy Affeldt

Written by

Athlete, Humanitarian, Author. Public Speaker, Family Man, Believer. Three time World Series Champion with the San Francisco Giants.

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