Working is a Command From God

When you give to those who will not work. Or you give to those who work but will not manage their resources wisely, you are enabling them to remain poor as well as irresponsible.

Forget about what people will think of you when you say no to someone. Its not anyone else's business to decide what we should be doing.

Perhaps the greatest blessing we can give someone is to remove ourselves and allow their consequences teach them. The consequences God set up for them.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you: that if any would not work, neither should he eat."

Proverbs 26:15-16 "…15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth. 16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly. "

Proverbs 24:30-31 "30 I went past the field of a sluggard and by the vineyard of a man lacking judgment. 31 Thorns had grown up everywhere, thistles had covered the ground, and the stone wall was broken down.…"

So many people have many thorns in their lives because they chose not to do anything with their lives. They didn't consult God about His will for them, nor did they consult wise counsel from godly people to show them God's way.

Sadly so many godly people fear the judgment of others more than they care about what is good for those they want to help.

When we help people out of fear of what others will think of us, we are acting selfishly. The good of the lazy person should be more important to us than what anyone else thinks.

There is an old saying, I don't know who said it but it goes like this; "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.

The welfare system in this country has created far more poor than it has actually helped. If we were to act in wisdom we would teach lazy people how to work and let them go hungry if they will not. Going hungry for a times teaches one to seek employment.

Psalm 128:2
"2 When you shall eat of the

Proverbs 12:11
"11 He who tills his land will have plenty of bread,
But he who pursues worthless things lacks sense.
fruit of your hands, You will be happy and it will be well with you."
We take away a person's dignity and fulfillment by not requiring work out of them."

Proverbs 18:9
"9 He also who is slack in his work
Is brother to him who destroys."

1 Thessalonians 4:11
"11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you,"

Repentance Toward God and the Offended

The only one who can forgive an offender is God and the offended. Anyone else has no right to forgive an offense against someone else.

It is irritating to witness these court cases in which a murderer on trial who is not repentant is forgiven by family members. The perp cannot ask forgiveness of the victim because they are dead. The only One Who can forgive them is God.

We have no right to take on the offense of someone else and act like its ours to forgive.

It is offensive to me when a perp tells someone they are sorry about how they treated someone else but do not have the courage to go to the one they have offended.

Offenses are toward God and the one whom we wronged, no one else should be involved in that except to chastise the offender so they see their need for repentance.

Matthew 23:23-24 "23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel."