Today’s Passage: “She extends her hand to the poor, Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.” Proverbs 31:20
Isn’t it amazing how many lessons we can learn from the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31? We could work on all of these qualities for the rest of our lives and still have room for improvement. That’s what is so wonderful about God’s plan. We will always be useful to God as long as we study and seek to obey Him, because He keeps growing our hearts and molding us into His likeness.
Today’s study focuses on the virtuous woman and how she is hospitable and charitable. When I read that a godly woman helps the poor and needy, the first thing that comes to mind are Jesus’ words regarding how we are to reach out to others to serve Him: “Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 'The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'” Matthew 25:37-40.
By reaching out to those who are poor, we show Christ’s love to others. On the other hand, if we do not help the poor and we have opportunity to do so, we should be aware that this failure is listed in Matthew 25:46 among those things that will cause us to “go away to eternal punishment”. This is a very serious consequence for our failure to do good to those who are less fortunate than us.
We may be inclined to think that because we are not rich by America’s standards, we are not held to this commandment. Yet, even some of the poor in our nation are rich compared to many in other parts of the world. We can help others regardless of our financial circumstances. A wonderful example of the poor helping the poor is found in II Corinthians 8:1-3: “And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.” What a wonderful testimony to be commended by an apostle for helping others even though the helpers themselves were in extreme poverty!
We should remember that Jesus knows our hearts and our pocketbooks, as He did when a widow placed a single coin into the temple treasury. Though some gave bags of money and made a great display of it, Jesus knew that a widow’s meager offering was all that she had to live on. He commended her for her act of selflessness: “"I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on." Even when we experience financial hardships, we can often find another in a worse plight than we are and offer assistance. It is important to note that giving to the work of the church can help support those in need through the benevolence program, but we should remember that Matthew 25 commands us to do this on an individual basis as well.
The poor are not the only ones who are needy. James 1:27 teaches us “to look after orphans and widows in their distress”. It is not enough to depend on the welfare system to care for those who are orphaned or widowed. We must also visit them and take care of them. We can support the good works of Christian children’s homes by offering to serve as tutors, assist houseparents or foster families or serve as mentors and tutors. Often, these children have had no positive role model in their lives before entering foster care as the majority of them have been removed from homes where they were abused physically or sexually or neglected. Jesus told His disciples to “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God”. Though He was teaching his followers to become as pure as children spiritually, He also was showing the great example of taking time to notice the children in the crowds and allow them to come to Him. We should notice the children around us as well and see to their needs.
Additionally, there are many who have suffered the loss of their spouse and are lonely. By taking time to visit them, we are reinforcing the fact that they are special to God and that they continue to serve a great purpose. The Bible teaches us to grow in wisdom and to teach the younger women; yet how can this teaching take place if the younger do not spend time with the elder? In a society where few of us remain in the same community as our extended family, we could benefit greatly by reaching out to the elderly where we live. Caring for the widows is not just a gift to the elder women but also a blessing to the younger, who can learn sound advice from God’s Word from those who have lived much longer and can teach others "a thing or two".
The Bible gives us many examples of ways that we can help others. Cornelius gave alms to the poor (Acts 10:2), Solomon taught that the righteous care about the justice of the poor (Proverbs 29:7), Paul was eager to help the poor (Galatians 2:10) and David condemned those who persecuted the needy and failed to show mercy (Psalm 109:16). On the other hand, Isaiah warned about seeking the destruction of the poor (Isaiah 32:7) while Amos spoke of the coming punishment for those who tried to do away with the poor (Amos 8:4).
We should especially notice the needs of other Christians and assist them (I John 3:17) but when we see opportunity, we should seek to help everyone, even if they are someone who has done us wrong. “…If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.” (Romans 15:26). This is not an easy task, to be sure, but God has commanded us to love others so we can be sure that loving even the most unlovable person is possible.
As a postscript to the above, I believe that we must be careful how we help those who we do not know personally. For example, those of us in metropolitan areas may see several beggars on the side of the highways on a daily basis or encounter poor people that come to the church building and ask for help. At times, I have heard Christians say that we should not help these people because they can go to the “soup kitchen”. Their basis for this belief is that welfare programs were not available in the past when the Jews were commanded to leave the outer areas of their fields unharvested. While this may be true, I believe that we should be careful to readily dismiss our responsibilities to the poor and needy. I do not believe that God’s commandments for us to look after the poor have been outdated and therefore are no longer necessary because the government has special programs. Our work in the kingdom is to reach out to others and share Christ’s love which involves us getting out in the trenches and working.
There may be cases in which a traveling Christian has a legitimate need and should be able to seek help from the church. I shudder to imagine a loved one, whose vehicle broke down on the highway, have her pleas ignored by the local congregation because there is a chance that she might be a scam artist. Certainly, we must be wise in our endeavors to help others but we should not refuse to assist based solely on our personal appraisal of the person’s appearance. Remember that God judges the heart and not the appearance of a person. We may turn away someone only to discover later that they were truly in need of help.
Additionally, we should not refuse assistance based on the condition of our world today and the evil that is within it. The world has been filled with evil since the first sin and was destroyed in Noah’s day due to the condition of human hearts. According to Solomon, there is “nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). No, our purpose is not to remove ourselves from the corrupt world around us but instead, we must shine as lights and give others hope through Christ Jesus our Savior. We must remember that Christians should be known for our love, as John so frequently wrote in his letters. Jesus stated, “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Galatians 5:14.
There are many ways to extend our hands to the poor and needy. For example, if we are uncomfortable giving cash to someone for fear that they will use it for immoral purposes, perhaps we could buy lunch for someone who is hungry or fill up their car if they are out of gas. If we learn of a situation in which the parents are unable to purchase gifts for their child’s birthday or Christmas, we might buy some gifts and wrap them up to be given to the parents anonymously. We could give a grocery store gift card to a family who has little money for anything but the most basic of staples. We might adopt a family through the deacon in charge of benevolence or participate in Christian rescue efforts. Some suggestions of Christian rescue organizations are provided below with links to their websites. Your elders or deacons may know of local organizations for you to sponsor as well.
Christian Relief Fund www.christianrelieffund.org
Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort www.disasterreliefeffort.org
Healing Hands International http://www.hhi.org/
Pos Los Ninos http://www.familylifemissions.org/
May God bless you in your efforts to help others and may you always find help when you need it, as well. Let us strive to seek opportunities to give hope to a world that so desperately needs it. Many souls have been saved because a Christian first assisted them physically or financially. Who knows what seeds can be planted in others’ hearts because we reached out in love?
