Giving Without Work Is Not Love

Giving Without Requirements Is Not Love                                       

I have been running into lots of people who seem to believe that nothing should be required of others in our giving.

When God told the farmers to leave the edges of their field, not harvesting them, that those who were poor could come and gather the harvest, called 'gleanning', He never said pick up all the edges and just give them to the poor, He told them to leave edges that those who were poor would come and work to get them.

When we require nothing in return for goods we rob the poor person of the dignity of gathering for himself, learning thoughtfulness of others, that they not inconvenience them and the gratefulness that comes from being able to have food that they worked to get.

The same principle applies in relationships concerning repentance.

When we require no repentance for wrongs done, we rob the offender of an opportunity to grow and become more holy. Not requiring repentance in an offender is selfishness. It is much easier to pretend nothing is wrong, than to expect accountability when we know we may lose a friend.

Matthew 18:15 ""If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother."

Our charity must be with the welfare of the poor person in mind, not just their immediate need, but their overall well being. Giving without any requirements hardly ever fosters change in another person's heart, it merely enhances and reinforces an entitlement mentality, this is true of material goods as well as forgiveness.

We have been fostering laziness and ungratefulness by requiring nothing from those who have offended or refused to work.

Of course we require nothing of an invalid who cannot work, but this does not include all those who claim to be "disabled", but seem to have the ability to walk all over town doing things they want to do.

We should be giving freely without requirements to those who are elderly or infirmed physically who cannot get out of their beds. These are not the majority of cases that we see. If someone can walk or drive down to the food bank to get free food, then they are able to do something to earn it.

We have an "enablement mentality", in our country. We want others to think well of us, so we think giving without requirements or rules, is godly, but in fact it is not always so. The focus of our giving is ourselves, to be glorifed ourselves, to be admired and liked by the community.

If we have a deep concern for the poor we would teach them to fish instead of just giving them the fish already caught.

Salvation and spiritual growth is much more important than someone's feelings. Those who would resist helping or working to earn their food, are in a state of rebellion and laziness. A decent person who is grateful will want to work for their food, and may want to do extra work to be able to share with others.

Ephesians 4:28 "28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need."

Work shows us our inner character, it develops skills and enhances the health of the body. When we rob the poor of the opportunity to earn what they get, we are only thinking about ourselves.

Proverbs 18:9 "Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys."

Our charity must be with the welfare of the poor in mind, not only their bellies, but also their spiritual inner man.

We have a culture that looks only at the outside of a person, they want food so we give it, neglecting the need for the poor to develop their inner man and enjoy the fruits of their own labor.

We are a fast food culture, we want to do the easy thing, just throw money and goods at the problem, then we will not have to take the extra steps of interacting with the poor, helping them see their need for work and spiritual growth.

JUST GIVING WITHOUT REQUIRING WORK AND JUST FORGIVING WITHOUT REQUIRING REPENTANCE IS NOT GODLY BUT SELFISH.