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NASB | Exodus 20:9 "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Exodus 20:9 "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, |
Bible Question: Does the Lord metion in scripture that we are to give to those, for lack of a better word, selfish or people who do not try to help themselves? |
Bible Answer: Dear Puppytoes, Our church does its best to use our benevolence to balance three different scriptures. 1 Tim 5:8, Titus 3:14, 2 Thess 3:10. These are not the only relevant passages but fine examples of three strains of thought. First being that we absolutely must take care of our own. Second being that we are trying to become a people that actually wants to help whoever we can through good deeds, not just those we feel obligated to. Third being that if a man a person is simply being lazy rather than dealing with misfortune then well...they don't work, they don't eat. So first we prioritize our money with these things in mind. I think you will find there is too little to give and too much need to provide sluggards. Next, our goal is to sincerely help people, not just to feed them. So this means different things at different times. We try to ask ourselves one question. Why are they in this jam? This isn't to judge them but rather to help them best. If it is a situation where a person is doing a really horrible job with their money and clearly have no experience using a budget then the best way to help them is not simply to hand them money and see them back in 6 months in the same bind. In that case we offer financial counseling. www.daveramsey.com is a great educational program for money. So we may still help them while they are learning, but the answer to a lack of understanding is not money, its learning. Second, if the problem isn't their know how, but lazyness, then sometimes the only way you can help a person is to let them fall. Enabling a person isn't helping them either. It breaks my heart, but it breaks my heart more when we tell a single mom we are out of money because we gave it to a man who doesn't work who is perfectly capable. Don't let this excuse mask an ungiving spirit though. Finally though, if somebody is seriously doing what they ought and they simply have some bad misfortune, then we just help them. This is just how our church has tried to think through the issue, it may or may not be helpful to you. In Christ, Beja |
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Questions and/or Subjects for Ex 20:9 | Author | ||
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puppytoes | ||
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azurelaw | ||
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Searcher56 | ||
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Beja |