“I don’t give to homeless people because they don’t deserve it.”
This is a common thought expressed by people who understand that the cause of homelessness is many times, not just because of societal woes, but because of personal irresponsibility e.g. drunkenness, drug addiction, financial mismanagement, etc.
How we should give as Christians?
I’ve been challenged by reading James 2, where James deliberates the importance of having actions coupled with faith. What I took away from that passage was that we are not just to do the things that Jesus did, but the way that Jesus did.
I want my giving to the poor to be reflective of the way that God would gives to us.
And concerning the reality of the relationship between deservedness and giving in my own life, I suppose that if I were to apply the standard of deservedness onto the homeless onto myself, I’d be the poorest person on earth.
What I remembered was that God often doesn’t give blessings to us because we deserve it, but despite whether we deserve it or not. It is his grace which motivates his giving.
He gives to us despite whether we deserve it or not.
And when we think about helping out the homeless, I feel that we should be compelled by the grace of God, not by our standard of deservedness.
