Give to Everyone Who Begs From You
Months ago, I wrote a post about people asking for money in Kuwait, and when should you give and when should you not. It’s a problem that bothers all of us from time to time – when to be generous, and when are you throwing your money away?
Here, the instructions are clear – give to everyone who begs from you.
To me, that means keeping money on hand that I am comfortable will feed someone for a day – half a dinar to a dinar. Bread, beans, water . . .
When we lived in Tunis, my husband had his own beggqr – a man who came by the house from time to time. One time my husband followed him home, and when he came back, he said no matter how much we give this man, it will never be enough, he and his family live in a hovel. When the man came to us with a wound on his arm, my husband took him to the clinic and saw that he was cared for properly. The truth turned out to be that it benefited my husband, and our family, in the long run to be in a relationship with this beggar.
I’ve been taken by cons – the dripping medical bag, the fake leg gash – and I still believe it is better for us to error on the side of compassion.
Luke 6:27-38
27 ‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 ‘If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.* Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37 ‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.’
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Giving is great…. It’s a great feeling for the recipient, and rather selfishly, for the giver. However, I have to respectfully disagree. I would rather put in the effort and know that I’m giving to a worthy cause (the example of your husban following the beggar). Whilst I can see why you would rather give to all in the hope that it would hit the half who actually need it, I worry about feeding the “corporations” of organised beggars and other service providers (sale of small toys/vegetables). The money goes into a different pocket and for a different cause. Please be careful and – perhaps more importantly – selective.
a worthy cause?
you weren’t a worthy cause, and neither was i. and God forgave us anyway. when it didn’t make any sense at all.
you and i don’t deserve God’s forgiveness, and waste it every day when we mess up. every day we are given the chance to lead more Christ-like lives, and every day we miss some opportunity to do that. we are all sinners, none of us deserve forgiveness. but we were all given it anyway.
the whole point of this scripture is that we should pay this forward. this is God saying, “hey, you know that awesome thing i did for you? that thing you totally didn’t have coming? remember how i just wrote off your spiritual debt to me and forgave you all those horrible things you did? pay it forward. do good things when they make sense the least. it’s EASY to to do good things when they make sense. the biggest jerks in the world can do that. you’re not here for anything to be easy. do good things when they DON’T make sense. just like i did.”
God forgave us because He loves us. all he asks in return is that we at least go through the motions of loving other people, even when it’s completely irrational.
Ike, you are exactly right. None of us is worthy.
We live in the Arabian Gulf. There are thousands of people here, from other places, some earning a pittance, and trying to send most of that home. Some have lost jobs. Some beg because it’s good money.
The struggle for us is to be good stewards of our charitable giving. It smacks us in the face ever single day. We are hit for money constantly. You give, and you want to be sure you are giving to those who really need it, because the needs are endless, and the money we have to give is limited.
I agree about giving being good for the giver, too, Bu Yousef. The rest of what you said is something I am also wrestling with. I have worked with charities most of my life. I learned that the more your gut tells you to trust, the more important it is to check things out – verification – because con people are really really good at what they do, which is to get you to believe them.
And yet – the scriptural instructions are very very clear – give to those who beg from you.
I keep small change and bills to give to those who beg, and give bigger donations to organizations who are vetted and known for their low expense to services rendered ratio. I don’t know how else to do it, and I welcome input on this subject. It affects all of us.
This is a lovely post, and that it is good to give to those who act. However, I think we can do the most good by giving more substantial amounts to organazations that work every day to end poverty in a sustainable way, such as the Heifer Project. As they say, give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day; teach a man to fish, he’ll eat for his whole life”.
I meant to say, it is good to give to those who ask!
Maria! I am so happy to see you! 🙂
Also these mini grants/ Kiva grants . . . they do amazing good at helping people help themselves, and they are almost always paid back in full, meaning the the money is then recycled to help another new business project. Heifer is also very good.
It’s nice to see you too! I have been out of the blogging loop for a while. I have still been posting on my blog but have not been keeping up with my feed at all or commenting anywhere and am just starting to get caught up.
I totally understand, Maria! I’m just happy to see you when I see you!
This is something I’ve been wrestling with too. I’m in a country where it’s not all that easy to share the Gospel with people, and there’s tons of beggars, many of whom really have owners who put them where they are and take much of the money given to them. But i still can’t get past Christ’s command to give to all who beg from you. How do I make sure my money isn’t wasted? Give them a tract with the cash, and give enough to make them notice you and thus remember (really, where I am, that’s less than $3). It doesn’t much matter if the money gets taken, they have the Gospel, and it’ll get read.
Kain – I keep small bills – coins – and I offer to buy food. If the begger turns down the food, I don’t give anything. I am finding I tend to be more generous to those who are feeding the hungry and clothing the naked, Salvation Army, Operation Hope (in Kuwait), Heifer Project, things that are organized with a goal and a population with certain needs to be met. I think they are making the true difference.
I am guessing prayer is our best weapon, trying to make sure the money we give goes where it is most needed . . . I am still wrestling with this, months later.
For me, it’s not really a concern about where the money goes, I just want to give enough to get them to read the tract, i should figure out how to ask if they need food…. (can’t speak the language yet)