How to Treat the Poor

Deuteronomy 15:7-8 “If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: 8 But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.”

God talks alot about being generous and being a giver.  In this passage, we are instructed about how to treat the poor.  We learn the following things:

1. We are not to harden our hearts or shut our hand to the poor (v.7).
2. We are to open our hand wide unto the poor and lend him what he needs (v.8).
3. We are to be allow our wicked hearts to think about how much we will lose if we lend to him (v.9).
4. If we refuse to help our poor brother, we are sinning against God (v.9).
5. If we given to the poor, then we will be blessed in all our works (v.10).
6. The poor will always be with us, so we need to do what we can to help them (v.11).

This was written as part of the Mosaic Law, but there are many principles that we could apply to our lives today.

Read more devotionals at bcwe.org.