S
Steady_Eddy
Guest
**Do not stand on a high pedestal
**
I’ve been thinking of this thread for a long time, but finally decided to post it after answering the thread (Awkward Money Situation with Lady at Church?) This is a very thought provoking subject for me, and perhaps you too.
“Do not stand on a high pedestal and take 5 cents in your hand and say, “here, my poor man”, but be grateful that the poor man is there, so by making a gift to him you are able to help yourself. It is not the receiver that is blessed, but it is the giver. Be thankful that you are allowed to exercise your power of benevolence and mercy in the world, and thus become pure and perfect.” Author unknown
Luke 3:11. And [John the Baptist] would answer and say to them, “Let the man with two tunics share with him who has none, and let him who has food do likewise.”
Deut. 15:10. You shall give generously to [your poor brother], and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings.
Proverbs 11:24-25
There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered.
Acts 20:35
In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Who are the poor, by the way? Among our rationalizations is the feeling that the actual poor aren’t people we really have to pay attention to. They may be of different races, or not speak our language, or aren’t moral enough for us; they may be illegal immigrants. (Imagine that, a class of human beings that are illegal. Imagine explaining that to God.)
God doesn’t want to hear these excuses; he specifically commands us to help the stranger, the alien, and the sojourner. Jesus’ command on dinner parties couldn’t be clearer: the people you need to help are not the people like you, the people you like, and the people who can repay you. As for racial prejudice, note that the first person in the gospel of John to whom Jesus clearly confesses to being the Messiah is a Samaritan; Samaritans were despised by the orthodox Jews of the time. (And for that matter, she was a woman, and an adulterer.)
Can you give too much? We believe in moderation in all things. Unfortunately, we get this idea from the Greeks, not the Bible. Jesus asks for immoderate giving.
2 Cor 13:13
Eddy Barry
**
I’ve been thinking of this thread for a long time, but finally decided to post it after answering the thread (Awkward Money Situation with Lady at Church?) This is a very thought provoking subject for me, and perhaps you too.
“Do not stand on a high pedestal and take 5 cents in your hand and say, “here, my poor man”, but be grateful that the poor man is there, so by making a gift to him you are able to help yourself. It is not the receiver that is blessed, but it is the giver. Be thankful that you are allowed to exercise your power of benevolence and mercy in the world, and thus become pure and perfect.” Author unknown
Luke 3:11. And [John the Baptist] would answer and say to them, “Let the man with two tunics share with him who has none, and let him who has food do likewise.”
Deut. 15:10. You shall give generously to [your poor brother], and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings.
Proverbs 11:24-25
There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered.
Acts 20:35
In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Who are the poor, by the way? Among our rationalizations is the feeling that the actual poor aren’t people we really have to pay attention to. They may be of different races, or not speak our language, or aren’t moral enough for us; they may be illegal immigrants. (Imagine that, a class of human beings that are illegal. Imagine explaining that to God.)
God doesn’t want to hear these excuses; he specifically commands us to help the stranger, the alien, and the sojourner. Jesus’ command on dinner parties couldn’t be clearer: the people you need to help are not the people like you, the people you like, and the people who can repay you. As for racial prejudice, note that the first person in the gospel of John to whom Jesus clearly confesses to being the Messiah is a Samaritan; Samaritans were despised by the orthodox Jews of the time. (And for that matter, she was a woman, and an adulterer.)
Can you give too much? We believe in moderation in all things. Unfortunately, we get this idea from the Greeks, not the Bible. Jesus asks for immoderate giving.
2 Cor 13:13
Eddy Barry
