How Should We Begin Giving to the Poor?
Mon, Oct 26, 2009
A few years ago my wife and I took a leap of faith in our giving. We felt a conviction to give more. We knew we had positioned ourselves in such a way that giving by the numbers, or within our budget didn’t make logical sense. In other words our expenses, the expenses we had planned in our minds didn’t create enough room in our budget to tithe 10% of our gross income.
Based on a strong conviction and again a leap in faith we decided to give more. We stretched even though we knew other expenses we had planned for the year couldn’t be met. Our conviction was replaced with peace. Peace because we knew at that point we had released complete control of our finances to God. Faith entered into our financial lives , our needs have been met, and things have never been better.
A conviction to help the poor
Recently I’ve encountered a similar conviction. A conviction to help the poor through the use of the blessings we have received. For the purposes of this post, I’m thinking of the homeless, but I suppose the poor or needy could expand well beyond the homeless.
We’ve heard messages at church on this particular subject and I knew we needed to consider stretching our giving further for this area, but we’ve never taken a step forward. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve given to people on the streets in our metropolitan area from time to time. I work in downtown where there are homeless asking for money from time to time. I’ve given in some of these cases, but honestly, it’s a second thought. Its never really been a planned decision to give to the needy each month.
What does the Bible say about and giving to the poor
I mentioned my conviction and scripture has some powerful things to say about giving in this area of our lives. Jesus identified with the poor and when we are not sharing with them we are not sharing with Jesus in the same way.
Then the King will say…’for I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink’…The the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?…The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire…for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink…to the extent that you did not do it one to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me’ Matthew 25:34-45 (New International Version).”
Our part in giving to the poor
I think part of the reason why this has never been a deliberate area of giving for our family is that we’ve always thought that our gifts wouldn’t be used wisely. There was an article in our metro newspaper several years ago that I’ll never forget about. The article investigated some of the homeless (and interviewed some) in different areas of the city and reported on what they did on a day to day basis. Some were found to take gifts and use for alcohol and others were found not be homeless at all. They dressed the part and collected donations each day only to return to their homes in the evening. I was disgusted by the report and unfortunately, it removed any motivation I had for helping the needy on our streets.
But it wasn’t until recently I was reminded that my part in giving is simply to make the gift. After extending the gift, it’s up to that person and God. In other words, it’s not for me to worry or consider how the gift will be used beyond extending it.
I learned this through an example of giving away a professional sports ticket this year. I gave a ticket to someone outside of a stadium and found they really didn’t seem all that grateful. I was looking for more and I guess I wanted to have some satisfaction or receive praise out of my giving. However, my wife kindly reminded that the gift was not about me.
How to give to the poor
Taking action is the only thing that I can say is hindering us from stretching our giving further to help the poor. I want to find a way that we can do this each month and have had several ideas, some during the writing of this article, popped into my head. Here is a short list.
- Find an organization that directly cares for the homeless and contribute to it each month.
- Serve in a homeless shelter once per month by providing food or other help.
- Carry cash with me during my daily commutes to work. Always offer some cash to someone who asks or is in need.
Do you give to the poor? What ideas do you have to give of your time and resources to the poor?
Photo by pedrosimoes.
Related Posts:
Tags: Giving
I’ve chosen A and B. I donate goods to the local foodbank and have made cash donations to our local shelter. Our church also cooks ‘outreach’ meals and I try to contribute baked goods each month.
Thanks for the tips! You actually made me think of an opportunity I have in which I can volunteer at a local food bank through my employeer!
Good post and great questions to be asking. I’m like you in terms of getting a conviction to help the poor, but struggling with how to help.
I think there’s a difference between “relief” (i.e. giving money) and “development” (i.e. teaching job skills etc) to help the poor and I think it takes wisdom in knowing which to provide to whom.
I did a post on this a while back and there were some great responses in the comment section http://ow.ly/wZxN
One idea I liked was to give gift cards to McDonalds or some other restaurant – that way there’s no worries about buying alcohol.
The bottom line is that they are real souls with some real hurts and issues and they need Christ like we all do.
Sometimes I forget that apart from God’s grace I’d be in the same boat. Thankfully God has redeemed me to be a son -that should be motivation enough to help others and point them to Jesus.
Jason @ Redeeming Riches
“Restore Your Money – Renew Your Mind”
Jason @ Redeeming Riches´s last blog ..Why You Need a Larger View of Your Money (And So Do I)!
Jason, I like the gift card idea. Yes, there are some people with real hurts. We can be a light to them. Thanks for your comments.
I feel torn on giving poor people cash. If they are using drugs or drinking, then giving them cash is not helping them. Giving them food water or clothing is helpful and hopefully its less likely they can use that in the wrong way.