It happens to us all. Maybe it’s someone standing on the street corner with a cardboard sign, maybe it’s a friend or a co-worker or maybe it’s a grown son or daughter. They need a loan. Or another loan. Or just a little help. Maybe it doesn’t seem right, but there’s the guilt. You wonder … what is the right thing to do?
Today’s Readings:
Deuteronomy 15 & 16
Psalm 37.30-36
Proverbs 12.17-19
Luke 3.1-38
When to Help & When to Get Out of the Way
Deuteronomy 15 & 16:
Open Your Hand Wide
In today’s reading, we see a great picture of God’s attitude toward giving and caring for one another:
7 If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, 8 but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs (Deut. 15.7-8).
What a beautiful picture of love and generosity!
Bear Fruit Worthy of Repentance
And, interestingly, in today’s New Testament reading, John the Baptist was warning the people of their need to repent and bear fruit accordingly, including generosity (Lk. 3.8-14).
So, if both the Old and New Testaments speak about giving generously, is that the end of what God has to say on the subject? Does it mean that believers should give to anyone who asks? Or since our nation provides for those who are poor, does that let us off the hook personally?
To answer those questions we need to look at Scripture in light of other Scripture.
Benevolence
When a religious lawyer asked Jesus what it meant to love your neighbor. He told him the story of the “Good Samaritan” (Lk. 10.25-37). This Samaritan, a Gentile who was outside the covenant of God, stopped to help a complete stranger.
That passage along with the two I mentioned above and many others tell us that generosity is a good thing. It’s a good thing to help those we know, as well as, strangers. It’s good for a nation like ours to have a safety net for those who have fallen on hard times. But I believe one of the greatest tragedies of our nation’s system of welfare is how help is administered.
Having been involved in a benevolence ministry, I can say there are times when families and individuals just need immediate one-time help. But when it comes to on-going or repeated help, discernment should be practiced. That requires knowing one another, knowing the issues, knowing the struggles, knowing the circumstances, knowing what is really needed, knowing when to help and when NOT to help.
I believe that’s why God intended for us to care for one another primarily in the context of the church and the family. When programs are not administered by people who know the ones seeking help, it leaves room for fraud and abuse and often does more harm than good.
Not Just Churches & Governments
But giving isn’t just of concern to churches, charities, and governments, it’s an issue within families. 1 Timothy 5.8 says:
But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Even the Old Testament commanded means for the poor and destitute to be cared for beginning with their own families.
But are there times when it’s not appropriate, wise, or biblical to help?
When to Help & When to Get Out of the Way
Most of us have experienced times when it didn’t seem right to help but we are often confused about what God requires of us. Often, we err on the side of helping rather than deal with the guilt and confusion. But it’s important to look at what the Bible really says.
For example, widows and orphans are two groups singled out in the Bible for special help (Jas. 1.27). But Paul clarified the commands to support widows by saying, the church should help only widows who are “widows indeed” (1 Tim. 5.3, 16). The church was not to support those who had family to care for them or who were under 60, idle, gossips, busybodies, or immoral (1 Tim. 5.3-16).
And in Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, he said:
10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. 11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.
But notice that passage said those who are unwilling to work not those who are unable. We should help those who are truly unable to work and we should do what we can to support widows, orphans, the elderly, and disabled when they don’t have family to care for them.
Of course, knowing when a widow is godly and without other means of support or knowing the difference between someone who won’t work and someone who can’t requires really knowing them, as I said. Something governments can’t do well but families and churches should.
When to Help & When to Trust God
Sometimes, we can actually get in the way of what God is doing by constantly bailing others out of their difficulties. This is especially true with our own children!
We have all seen adult children who repeatedly make unwise decisions, squander their own and, sometimes, their parents’ resources, and make excuses for why they can’t work steadily. Their heart-broken and confused parents help them over and over much to the dismay of other family members and the detriment of the one being helped.
We should remember Paul’s admonition to the Thessalonians. The New Living Translation says it this way, “… Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.” We need to be discerning when others come to us for help, even with our children. We should pray and seek God’s wisdom and, perhaps, ask ourselves some questions.
Questions to Consider
What are some questions we might ask as we consider when to help?
Has this person worked hard to solve the issue at hand? Has he or she shown responsibility in the past, but is faced with an unforeseen difficulty? Or has he or she shown a pattern of poor decisions and irresponsible behavior? Could we be getting in the way of God’s consequences? Proverbs says:
A whip for the horse,
A bridle for the donkey,
And a rod for the fool’s back (Prov. 26.3).There is desirable treasure,
And oil in the dwelling of the wise,
But a foolish man squanders it (Prov. 21.20).
And Romans 2 tells us:
9 There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 10 But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism (NLT).
But these are not always easy decisions to make.
Get Wise Counsel
Especially when it comes to our children, decisions can be clouded by guilt over divorce or other failings. When that’s the case, it may be important to seek wise counsel and trust that others can see things more clearly than we can.
None of us were perfect parents and God is faithful in the lives of our children. He has not allowed anything, including our sin, that He can’t use for good (Rom. 8.28-29; 1 Cor. 10.13). Just as in our lives, God has designed their trials to drive them to Him. But they will not look to the Savior if we keep acting as savior and rescuer in their lives.
So, in the end, there is a time to extend mercy, but there is also a time to gently rebuke and counsel (Gal. 6.1-2). There is a time to help and a time to get out of the way and let God do what only He can do in people’s lives.
Today’s Other Readings:
Psalm 37.30-36:
Righteous Speech
The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide (vv. 30-31).
If we want our words to be filled with wisdom, we must continually hide His Word in our hearts. That means we need to read it, study it, meditate on it, and memorize it!
Proverbs 12.17-19:
Exposing Lies
The truthful lip shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment (v. 19).
God will expose a lying tongue. Someone said, “What we cover, God uncovers, but what we confess, God covers.”
Luke 3.1-38:
Changed Hearts Equal Changed Lives
John the Baptist was the messenger sent to prepare people’s hearts for Jesus and His ministry. He called them out on their sin and called them to repentance.
Repentance is more than sorrow over sin, it’s a change of thinking that leads to a change of behavior. John said, “bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Lk. 3.8) and Jesus said, “every tree is known by its own fruit” (Lk. 6.44).
As I said above, John told the people to be generous. He told the tax collectors to stop overcharging for their own gain and soldiers to do their jobs without taking advantage of their authority (Lk. 3.10-14).
Likewise, when we come to faith in Christ, there must be repentance (Lk. 5.32). A genuine salvation experience will lead to a change in thinking and behavior. We will still feel the pull of sin, but the Holy Spirit who comes to live in us (1 Cor. 6.19) enables us to choose to do what is pleasing to God. The pull is still there, but it no longer has power over us.
That’s good news and bad. It means by relying on God and His strength we can change and grow and choose righteous living. It also means if we do sin, we are choosing to do so (1 Cor. 10.13). Yet, when we do, 1 John 1.7-9 reminds us …
7 … if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So, let’s be good repenters by being quick to run to God and confess when we have failed in our walks with Him.
Coming Up:
In the coming days, we’ll look at how trusting God applies to our choices, talk about judging God, and look at a variety of other subjects.
I hope you’ll join us. You can sign up here for my daily email and occasional Christian living posts. A couple of older posts you might check out: 8 Ways to Rid Yourself of Spiritual Clutter – Part 1 where I discuss the dangers of spiritual clutter and the conclusion where I discuss ways to get rid of them in 8 Ways to Rid Yourself of Spiritual Clutter – Part 2.
If you have a prayer request or a question, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of the post. I will do my best to answer and would love to pray for you.
And if this post spoke to you, I would so appreciate it if you would share it on your favorite social media platform.
Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna
Note about this post:
I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer.
A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”
I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)
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