1 John 3:16-18 ESV
“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
Using Commonsense
In this world of ours we have some people who are extremely
stingy. They are going to hold tight to what they have regardless of who might
be in need, and regardless of what surplus they may have available at their
fingertips. That should not describe a true child of God.
But then we also have many scam artists (liars, cheats,
tricksters, thieves) in this world lurking “on every corner,” it would seem,
presenting a picture of poverty and of need when, at least here in America, many
of them are making a career of begging, for they can make more money begging
than they would if they were working a regular paying job.
And there are definite signs accompanying these scam artists
(thieves) which we can begin to recognize and to watch out for, whether they
are in person on street corners, or in parking lots, or on the internet, or via
text messaging and phone calls. So, this calls for much discernment.
These are people we do not know personally, and we have no
way of knowing if they are truly in need other than to observe certain patterns
of behavior which are common to scam artists so that we are not taken in by
them and robbed of money that could have gone to those in real need. So, we
just need to pray and ask the Lord to give us wisdom in these situations to do
the right thing, for we don’t want to be giving money to help people kill
themselves with drugs or alcohol or to support possible terrorist organizations
which may be being funded by beggars.
Now, that may seem a bit cynical, but this is just the
reality of the world in which we now live. Especially if you get a phone call
from someone trying to get personal information from you on the basis of some lie
they are telling you, please don’t give out your personal information, and
please never give anyone access to your bank account. These are just some commonsense
principles that we need to put into place so that we are not being taken
advantage of by liars, tricksters, and thieves, some of whom are preachers.
Be Generous
Now, I am not trying to steer you away from helping people
in need, but I am just trying to make you aware that not everyone is who he
says he is or is doing what he says he is doing. And this doesn’t just apply to
people begging, but it applies to people in positions of government, preachers,
pastors, teachers, your next door neighbors, your children, and even your
spouses, etc., some of whom are also scam (or con) artists.
This is just the reality that we are living in the last
days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant,
abusive, unholy, heartless, without self-control, brutal, and not loving good, etc.
(See 2 Timothy 3).
Now, going back to today’s passage, notice with me the
wording. “If anyone has the world’s goods and SEES his brother in need..” Now,
we can’t always see it, and sometimes we do have to just trust people until
they prove themselves to not be trustworthy, but it should be apparent that
they are in need. There should be some obvious signs of need, and God can show
us.
And, although our generosity shouldn’t be limited to just
the family of God, it does specify that this is a Christian brother (or sister)
who is in need. And if you are in fellowship with them, you should know them,
and it should be somewhat apparent that they have needs, but, sad to say, many
within the church are scam artists, too. So all we can do is to pray for
wisdom.
But the bottom line here is that, if we are truly God’s
children, then we should be willing to lay our lives down for others, specifically
for those within the family of God who are in need. For the Scriptures teach
that we are to share with others as they have need and that God will supply our
needs when we are in need. This is a godly principle to follow.
But let me add some more wisdom here. Don’t rob your own
family to feed another. Don’t deprive your own family of their basic needs and
then go off and be generous with someone else. And then don’t go begging for
help because you gave away what your family needed to live on. I have seen this
take place plenty by those who do not use wisdom. For we do need to exercise
godly wisdom and discernment in our generosity, too.
So, be generous! Be those who care about others’ needs and
who are willing to help meet those needs as God directs. But exercise wisdom,
too, and don’t open yourselves wide to being taken advantage of by thieves and
liars, for they are many. The money we have belongs to God, so pray for God to
direct you to the needs he wants you to help meet, and then just trust him.
1 John 3:19-24 ESV
“By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.”
“By this..” seems to be an obvious reference back to the
preceding verses (vv. 16-18). If we are being generous in helping others,
especially those within the household of faith, when we SEE that they are in
need, which shows that we are loving others not just in word (talk), but in
deed (action) and in truth, then this should reassure our hearts that we are of
the truth.
And I believe this goes along with the wisdom I talked about,
too, for many scam artists (preachers included here) will try to heap guilt
upon us if we do not give them what they ask for. Even family members might do
this to you, too, calling you stingy, and selfish, and not a “good Christian,”
because you are exercising godly wisdom in not giving them what they are going
to use to get high on drugs or to get drunk on alcohol, and to rob their
families of their true needs, etc. Don’t let them guilt trip you into sinning.
If we have prayed about a situation, and we are confident
before the Lord that we did the right thing, then we need to put on that armor
of God to fight off those lies of Satan which are intended to guilt trip us
into yielding to them and to going against the wisdom of God.
For loving others is not just giving them what they want
when they want it. Loving others is doing for them what is for their good, for
their wellbeing. And sometimes that means telling them “No!” They can call us
whatever names they want, but we must do what is for their best, not do just what
they want of us, which actually may be to their detriment. So, be wise!!
Okay, so here is the summation of it all. If we love God and
if we love others, we will keep (obey) the Lord’s commandments, and they are
not just the instructions given to the church in the New Testament, but they
are also the Lord’s specific leadings of the Holy Spirit in our lives when the
Spirit prompts us to give, or to say something to someone, or to do something
for someone, or to write something and share it or whatever. So obey Him!
Songwriters:
Geoff Moore / Steven Chapman
How do you explain,
how do you describe
A love that goes
from east to west
And runs as deep as
it is wide?
You know all our
hopes,
Lord, you know all
our fears.
And words cannot express
the love we feel,
But we long for You
to hear.
So listen to our
hearts.
Hear our spirit sing
A song of praise
that flows
From those you have
redeemed.
We will use the
words we know
To tell you what an
awesome God You are.
But words are not
enough
To tell you of our
love,
So listen to our
hearts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqQLG_vAIow
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