Teaching my kids to give back is an essential part of parenting. It's not something that's optional. Compassion is one of the basic values that I want my children to have: that if they see a need, whether it's around the corner or thousands of miles of away, they should feel motivated to do whatever they can to help.
But discipleship never consists in this or that specific action: it is always a decision, either for or against Jesus Christ. . . Christ speaks to us exactly as he spoke to them. It was not as though they first recognized him as the Christ and then received his command. They believed his word and command and recognized him as the Christ--in that order.