-
Isaiah 58:7-11
Share your food with hungry people. Provide homeless people with a place to stay. Give naked people clothes to wear. Provide for the needs of your own family.Then the light of my blessing will shine on you like the rising sun. I will heal you quickly. I will march out ahead of you. And my glory will follow behind you and guard you. That’s because I always do what is right.You will call out to me for help. And I will answer you. You will cry out. And I will say,‘ Here I am.’“ Get rid of the chains you use to hold others down. Stop pointing your finger at others as if they had done something wrong. Stop saying harmful things about them.Work hard to feed hungry people. Satisfy the needs of those who are crushed. Then my blessing will light up your darkness. And the night of your suffering will become as bright as the noonday sun.I will always guide you. I will satisfy your needs in a land baked by the sun. I will make you stronger. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water. You will be like a spring whose water never runs dry.
-
1 John 3 17
Suppose someone sees a brother or sister in need and is able to help them. And suppose that person doesn’t take pity on these needy people. Then how can the love of God be in that person?
-
1 Timothy 6 18
Command the rich to do what is good. Tell them to be rich in doing good things. They must give freely. They must be willing to share.
-
Luke 18:22
When Jesus heard this, he said to him,“ You are still missing one thing. Sell everything you have. Give the money to those who are poor. You will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”
-
Daniel 4:27
So, Your Majesty, I hope you will accept my advice. Stop being sinful. Do what is right. Give up your evil practices. Show kindness to those who are being treated badly. Then perhaps things will continue to go well with you.”
-
James 2:15-26
Suppose a brother or a sister has no clothes or food.Suppose one of you says to them,“ Go. I hope everything turns out fine for you. Keep warm. Eat well.” And suppose you do nothing about what they really need. Then what good have you done?It is the same with faith. If it doesn’t cause us to do something, it’s dead.But someone will say,“ You have faith. I do good deeds.” Show me your faith that doesn’t cause you to do good deeds. And I will show you my faith by the goods deeds I do.You believe there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that. And they tremble!You foolish person! Do you want proof that faith without good deeds is useless?Our father Abraham offered his son Isaac on the altar. Wasn’t he considered to be right with God because of what he did?So you see that what he believed and what he did were working together. What he did made his faith complete.That is what Scripture means where it says,“ Abraham believed God. God accepted Abraham because he believed. So his faith made him right with God.”( Genesis 15:6) And that’s not all. God called Abraham his friend.So you see that a person is considered right with God by what they do. It doesn’t happen only because they believe.Didn’t God consider even Rahab the prostitute to be right with him? That’s because of what she did for the spies. She gave them a place to stay. Then she sent them off in a different direction.A person’s body without their spirit is dead. In the same way, faith without good deeds is dead.
-
1John 4:20
-
Acts 10:4
Cornelius was afraid. He stared at the angel.“ What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered,“ Your prayers and gifts to poor people are like an offering to God. So he has remembered you.
-
Acts 10:2
Cornelius and all his family were faithful and worshiped God. He gave freely to people who were in need. He prayed to God regularly.
-
Luke 19:8
But Zacchaeus stood up. He said,“ Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of what I own to those who are poor. And if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay it back. I will pay back four times the amount I took.”
-
James 1:27
Here are the beliefs and way of life that God our Father accepts as pure and without fault. When widows are in trouble, take care of them. Do the same for children who have no parents. And don’t let the world make you impure.
-
Luke 11:41
Give freely to poor people to show what is inside you. Then everything will be clean for you.
-
John 13:29
Judas was in charge of the money. So some of the disciples thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the feast. Others thought Jesus was talking about giving something to poor people.
-
2 Corinthians 8 3-2 Corinthians 8 14
I tell you that they gave as much as they could. In fact, they gave even more than they could. Completely on their own,they begged us for the chance to share in serving the Lord’s people in that way.They did more than we expected. First they gave themselves to the Lord. Then they gave themselves to us because that was what God wanted.Titus had already started collecting money from you. So we asked him to help you finish making your kind gift.You do well in everything else. You do well in faith and in speaking. You do well in knowledge and in complete commitment. And you do well in the love we have helped to start in you. So make sure that you also do well in the grace of giving to others.I am not commanding you to do it. But I want to test you. I want to find out if you really love God. I want to compare your love with that of others.You know the grace shown by our Lord Jesus Christ. Even though he was rich, he became poor to help you. Because he became poor, you can become rich.Here is my opinion about what is best for you in that matter. Last year you were the first to give. You were also the first to want to give.So finish the work. Then your desire to do it will be matched by your finishing it. Give on the basis of what you have.Do you really want to give? Then the gift is measured by what someone has. It is not measured by what they don’t have.We don’t want others to have it easy at your expense. We want things to be equal.Right now you have plenty in order to take care of what they need. Then they will have plenty to take care of what you need. The goal is to even things out.
-
Mark 14:5-8
It could have been sold for more than a year’s pay. The money could have been given to poor people.” So they found fault with the woman.“ Leave her alone,” Jesus said.“ Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.You will always have poor people with you. You can help them any time you want to. But you will not always have me.She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body to prepare me to be buried.
-
Matthew 25:40
“ The King will reply,‘ What I’m about to tell you is true. Anything you did for one of the least important of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
-
Acts 10:31
He said,‘ Cornelius, God has heard your prayer. He has remembered your gifts to poor people.
-
Hebrews 6:10
God is fair. He will not forget what you have done. He will remember the love you have shown him. You showed it when you helped his people. And you show it when you keep on helping them.