7 “But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them. 8 Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need. 9 Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the Lord, you will be considered guilty of sin.10 Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. 11 There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.
- Deuteronomy 15:6-11
GOD is a loving and compasionate GOD. He thinks about the poor and needy and commands those that are not poor to help them. Why is it important to help the poor? It is important so that we can purge ourselves from selfishness and stingyness. Selfishness is a trait that leads to sin and death. As GOD's children we should reflect the very character of GOD, His generosity and selflessness. But as humans we are naturally selfish and we think about or care for ourselves more often than we even think about others or care for others. That is why GOD commands us to help the needy by giving, lending and sharing what we have. Generosity is an important trait of GOD and we should have that trait within ourselves. For how can other people worship the GOD we serve if the GOD we serve doesn't care about other people.
When we are generous with our finances or material wealth, we will also be generous with our time, our care and our love. If we are not generous with our wealth, how can the love of GOD be seen in us? You cannot be Godly and stingy at the same time. It is good to have self-control in how we spend our money, it is a Godly trait to have financial management. But we cannot be stingy with helping others especially the poor. We can't ever turn them away because GOD has chosen to bless us so that we can bless them and help them. If we do not care about them and ignore the command of GOD to give to them, GOD will take away our wealth because we are not deserving or worthy to possess wealth when wealth has possessed us. When we hold on to material things too much, it only means our god is not the Creator of Heaven and Earth, but our god is money. We are greedy. But when we give away what we have to help the needy, we are giving away to GOD Himself, not because He is poor and needy but because the poor and needy are close to His heart. When we bless the poor, we bless GOD and in return, GOD blesses us even more. For we can never outgive GOD, HE is more generous than we are, HE will make sure to give us more than what we have given HIM.
