“If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?” (James 2:15-16)
In our day, we see this as the government’s job. The problem is that the government is an impersonal thing that treats only the symptom and not the person. If you have a family member – note this is not speaking of a stranger on the street – and do not invest yourself in them, what use is that? One without the bare necessities is the one we should help. How we have gotten out of hand in our contemporary culture.
Lord, this goes to the heart of stewardship and seeing who is my neighbor. Lead me up the path to better understand the prudence and temperance that is needed to live my daily life in a faithful way. Guide me, Lord, so that I may learn from You how to do these things. Teach me through Your Word in order that I may be useful. Take away my excuses and grant that I become one who does what I say I believe.
Lord Jesus, You know where I have done this on a spiritual level. There are those who are in great need, spiritually starving to death, and I go on with life without a care. Guide me, Lord, so that I may now and always be sensitive to my brothers and sisters (in faith and otherwise) and not just cater to the selfish wants of this age, but also to the spiritual needs which are the foundation of the age to come. Amen.
