No, to blindly put oneself into a dangerous situation just to help someone isn't what was my intent by using this quote.
God gave us all a measure of common sense (some more than others) and He expects us to use it in every situation. I believe we must be good stewards of our talents, time and treasures and to throw any of them away would be poor use of them. God also gives us a healthy fear of the unknown. This uneasy feeling is to help us to remember to proceed with caution.
Unfortunately, the beggars aren't into being patient and they get downright pushy leaving us little time to think. That's when we get afraid to help them and either speed away without giving anything (sometimes the best response) or we give and then wish we didn't because we see them buy booze with it.
When we were traveling in Mexico, my husband kept a bunch of peso coins in his front pocket when we went to town. He didn't want to have to reach into his wallet if he came upon a genuine needy person. He also could whip out a small coin and give to someone who was being impatiently pushy.
However, there are genuinely poor individuals "down on their luck" who need a hand up to get them through. Those are the folks who need us not to be afraid to help because God will multiply our gift and return a blessing to us to boot.
I just didn't understand the application of that particular Bible verse. I think I'm more in the "Help those who help themselves" column. The last reason I would give someone something is 'because they became pushy', unless I feared for my life. Thanks for your post.
I thought I had posted a reply/update last week but it isn't showing up; no doubt due to some operater problem on my part.
The jist of the reply: Though the guy was on the edge of being beligerent, I judged him to be no physical threat so I had no concerns about any of that. Even though this is an area with plenty of transients, they ordinarily did not do much panhandling here - so when the guy approached me, I did not view him as the typical 'homeless - please help, God Bless' kind of person. So I gave more credence to his being dumped by his boss story than I otherwise might have.
But those that called me "Easy" and think I got the wool pulled over my eyes are correct. I saw the same guy a couple of days later in a local casino, pulling on the One-Armed Bandit, without a care in the world.
My angst all came from thinking I should have done more to get this guy on his feet than I did. Now I am glad I tempered my response, but hope it doesn't stop me from doing something for a person truly in need. Now that is the rub, how do you tell?
How can you be 100% sure you are doing the right thing? You can't. Do you believe every last dollar of your taxes are used wisely? No, but hope most of it is and still pay your taxes. As someone else pointed out, many charitable organizations use outside agencies to collect their donations. How much of every dollar given to these charities actually are used to help the disadvantaged? If over 50 cents on the dollar, that is good, but we continue to make donations otherwise these charities fail. How can you be sure when giving someone a helping hand (dollar) they will use it wisely? YOu can't as in Marc's case, but, you still do what you can. Maybe, 50 cents of every dollar you give is spent frivolously by the recipient, but the other 50 cents was well spent. Is the glass half full or half empty. We will never know for sure how much good we are doing, but that doesn't stop us from doing what we believe is right knowing that we will get it right often enough to make it worthwhile.
Slight change of topic. But there is another part of giving besides money. That is yourself. My family, for example, never gets together on Thanksgiving Day because most of are us helping to either deliver or serve dinner to those who can't afford. And, because, we are Jewish, we are always available to do the same on Christmas Day. I am, also, active in the adult literacy program at the library.
Comments
God gave us all a measure of common sense (some more than others) and He expects us to use it in every situation. I believe we must be good stewards of our talents, time and treasures and to throw any of them away would be poor use of them. God also gives us a healthy fear of the unknown. This uneasy feeling is to help us to remember to proceed with caution.
Unfortunately, the beggars aren't into being patient and they get downright pushy leaving us little time to think. That's when we get afraid to help them and either speed away without giving anything (sometimes the best response) or we give and then wish we didn't because we see them buy booze with it.
When we were traveling in Mexico, my husband kept a bunch of peso coins in his front pocket when we went to town. He didn't want to have to reach into his wallet if he came upon a genuine needy person. He also could whip out a small coin and give to someone who was being impatiently pushy.
However, there are genuinely poor individuals "down on their luck" who need a hand up to get them through. Those are the folks who need us not to be afraid to help because God will multiply our gift and return a blessing to us to boot.
Does this help clarify my intent?
Cheryl C.
The jist of the reply: Though the guy was on the edge of being beligerent, I judged him to be no physical threat so I had no concerns about any of that. Even though this is an area with plenty of transients, they ordinarily did not do much panhandling here - so when the guy approached me, I did not view him as the typical 'homeless - please help, God Bless' kind of person. So I gave more credence to his being dumped by his boss story than I otherwise might have.
But those that called me "Easy" and think I got the wool pulled over my eyes are correct. I saw the same guy a couple of days later in a local casino, pulling on the One-Armed Bandit, without a care in the world.
My angst all came from thinking I should have done more to get this guy on his feet than I did. Now I am glad I tempered my response, but hope it doesn't stop me from doing something for a person truly in need. Now that is the rub, how do you tell?