Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done. Proverbs 19:17
“We are professors of Christianity; we pretend to be the followers of Jesus and to make the gospel our rule. We have the Bible in our houses. Let us not behave ourselves in this particular as if we had never seen the Bible, as if we were ignorant of Christianity and knew not what kind of religion it is.
What will it signify to pretend to be Christians and at the same time to live in the neglect of those rules of Christianity which are mainly insisted on in it? But there are several things which I would here propose to your consideration…
What you have is not your own… Your money and your goods are not your own; they are only committed to you as stewards, to be used for Him Who committed them to you…Giving to others is giving to the Lord…
We must comply with difficult duties in the Christian life…Only the merciful shall obtain mercy… God will deal with us as we deal with our fellow-creatures in this particular, and that with what measure we mete to others in this respect God will measure to us again…
Charity ends in reward rather than loss. Consider what abundant encouragement the Word of God gives that you shall be no losers by your charity…we ought not to look upon it as loss because it benefits those whom we ought to love as ourselves.”
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) in Christian Charity or The Duty of Charity to the Poor, Explained and Enforced (Pensacola: Chapel Library, 2022) 11-15. Download the PDF copy here.
Today, Edwards tells us to live what we profess and reminds us that we do not lose when we walk in obedience but we gain. And we determine the measure that God will extend to us in our own times of need by the measure we aid others.
Think about that. Don’t just think about that, act on that.
God will extend to you the measure you choose to extend to others. As you show mercy, He shows mercy. As you extend grace and kindness, He promises to give it to you. As a result, all professors of Christianity do well to calibrate their generosity liberally and lavishly.
Take a few minutes today to decide the measure you want God to extend to you.
Now extend that toward others through your generous living, giving, serving, and loving. Think of those who need help, financial assistance, physical service, or tender care. Can you envision this? Now get to work. You will not end up empty but rather, enriched.