Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Wisdom from Proverbs”
Our Bible verse for today: “Kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord, and he will give a reward to the lender.” Proverbs 19:17 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Err on the side of compassion and generosity.”
Have you ever struggled with the decision of whether or not you should give a couple of dollars to a homeless person? From time to time we all have. On the one hand, you don’t want to enable bad behavior. You don’t want to give them money for a meal, only to have them spend it on drugs or alcohol. On the other hand, you don’t want to be heartless and unresponsive to genuine need. So what should you do?
The Bible doesn’t actually make the decision for us, but it does provide us with general guidance. In numerous places in the Proverbs Solomon teaches against laziness and irresponsible behavior. The Apostle Paul even goes so far as to instruct us to let someone go hungry rather than enabling their bad behavior and poor decisions (2 Thessalonians 3:10). So on the one hand, Scripture is clear that we are to allow people to suffer the consequences of their own bad choices, even if that means saying “no” to their request.
However, more often the guidance God gives us in the Bible leans in the direction of kindness, compassion, and generosity. In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus teaches that kindness and compassion to those in need is such an important act of ministry that when we do it, He receives it as if we did it for Him personally, “I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.” (Matthew 25:40)
In James 1:27 we read, “Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” There are numerous other passages in both the Old and New Testaments which teach the same lesson but God’s point is clear, He wants us to be kind and generous.
In Proverbs 19:17 Solomon tells us that compassion and generosity to someone in need is actually “a loan to the Lord.”, and that “He will give a reward to the lender.” This is the same truth expressed by Jesus in Matthew 25:40 just in slightly different words.
It’s true that we are to be good stewards of the resources the Lord has entrusted us with so we don’t waste them. We also don’t want to be taken unfair advantage of and we don’t want to be enablers of bad behavior. But we can trust that God will honor our good intentions and that in the end He will somehow make it right.
Sometimes the decision about whether to give or not will be clear to you and you will have peace about it. However since the weight of Biblical instruction on the issue leans in favor of kindness, compassion, and generosity, if you’re unsure of what to do and you’re struggling with the decision, the safe bet is to err on the side of compassion and generosity.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 