What Does the Bible Say About Helping the Poor?

The Bible emphasizes helping the poor as a moral and spiritual duty.  It consistently teaches that helping the poor is an act of love, obedience to God, and a reflection of faith. Below are just a few of the many biblical references to helping the poor. 

James 2: 15-17

15:  If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily good,

16: And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

17: Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

Proverbs 19:17 Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.

Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgement, relieve the oppressed, judge* the fatherless, plead for the widow

*give a just verdict to the fatherless

Many of our students are fatherless.  Being a single mother in Honduras can be a poverty sentence.  Since many mothers rely on their school age children to watch their younger children, older siblings often are unable to finish their schooling.  Compared to the United States, Honduras lacks job opportunities, especially for uneducated women.  

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