Tough Love

I said I would blog about poverty so now that is what I am going to do. While the Bible says a ton about money I want to break it down into three key points which will be broken into three blog posts each. Number 1 the Bible says we need to work for what we get. Number 2 the Bible says we need to be generous with our possessions. And finally number 3 which says money can’t be everything to us, God has to be first in our lives. For this post I will be writing about the first point that we need to work for what we get. One verse that comes to mind can be found in Leviticus, which is right after Exodus. Leviticus 19:9 says “When you reap the harvest of your land do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God.” We don’t really harvest much anymore, or glean either, but the principle is the same, God is not requiring us to give handouts so that people will have to work for what they get. One of the group leaders on my mission trip made the observation that there is a point at which when you serve you make the person you are serving dependent on your service. I mentioned that there were people asking when we would paint their house, when we would get around to them. The problem with this is we can’t get to everybody, we can’t give every person a hot meal or a freshly painted house, and it would be impossible and in the end wouldn’t solve the problem. Eventually the paint would fade and the meal eaten and then our service would be required again. While non biblical this statement is practical “Give a man a fish feed him for a day, teach a man to fish feed him for a life time.” The thing though is this; this isn’t the whole answer only a part of it which will be discussed in my next post.