Looking back into verse five we see the reason for poverty in the rest of the verse "There should not be any poor among you... if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.” And in verse eleven “There will always be poor people in the land, therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.”
Obedience to God's commands to be generous and openhanded toward our brothers and the poor and needy is the solution to the problem of poverty. Our individual contributions matter, but we must also join together to hold our communities and governments accountable for practices enforced and legislations passed that oppress the poor.
"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."
Proverbs 31:8-9
1 comment:
thanks for sharing that insight into an often used excuse. And Prov 31:8-9. My roommate whom is recently seeing God's heart for the poor in scripture excitedly texted me this reference early, early one morning. (He honestly admitted he had only seen the good wife stuff in that chapter before. Haha.)
I really enjoy your blog. Keep sharing!
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