One of the great privileges we get is to be God’s hands in this world. In other words, we get to express His love to this world by our actions of love and grace. One of the ways we get to do this is to be kind to the poor. When we give to the poor, it blesses God’s heart, and He rewards us when we do so. Proverbs 19:17 (ISV) says: “Whoever is kind to the poor is lending to the Lord— the benefit of his gift will return to him in abundance”. Notice that it says the gift to the poor will return to us in abundance! We can never out-give God. He is MOST generous, and when He sees that we are righteously representing Him, He will continue to resource us with abundant provision so that we could continue to be generous with others. 2 Corinthians 9:8 & 11(NLT) says: “AndGod will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous”. Most people know what it is to be in need. And when someone blesses you when you are in need, it’s like a cold glass of water in a hot, desert day!. Now it’s your turn. Who are you going to bless? Or let me put it this way: Who is God going to bless through you?
Is this true wealth?
Today, our society teaches that in order to be happy, we have to pursue great wealth and have many fancy things such as big houses and fancy cars. They believe that if you have these things, you will be happy. Yet the scriptures reveal that fallacy of that perspective. Proverbs 15:17 teaches this: “It’s much better to have a kind, loving family, even with little, than to have great wealth with nothing but hatred and strife all around you.” I have heard countless stories about those who had great wealth, yet were overwhelmed with stress, worry, a need to keep up appearances, etc. Today, many have even left the corporate world and have downsized into “tiny houses” just so that they could leave the stressed-filled corporate world. They realized that they were more happy with less, just as long as they were at peace, and were able to enjoy their families and sleep in peace at night. Finances are needed, but we need to be careful not to embrace a false notion of what makes one fulfilled and happy. Make sure that in all of your getting and achieving, God is in the center of your life and home. He is our true provider. Also our highest achievement that will bring true fulfillment is having done God’s will in our lives, and having left a legacy that we loved and served our families and generation well.
Proverbs 15:17 (TPT) “It’s much better to have a kind, loving family, even with little, than to have great wealth with nothing but hatred and strife all around you.”
