Church

While the presidential candidates spar about one policy or another, today I want to talk about welfare reform or rather, Welfare as God intended it. Redistribution of wealth through the federal government is not God's plan for taking care of those in need. God's intent from the beginning is that God's people take care of those who cannot take care of themselves. Those who are capable of taking care of themselves should continue to do so for as long as they are able. Please turn to and prepare to read 1 Timothy 5:3-16 where we will be focusing today on verses 3-8 which describes this church's requirement to care for widows. (Read it)

God's passion for The Helpless

Throughout the scriptures a significant measure of righteousness has been "What do you do with the helpless?" In particular two classes of people have always required God's special protection. In that culture especially the orphan and the widow typically had no social standing and thus were helpless. God describes himself as "A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation."^{(Ps. 68:5)} For this reason godly people will spend themselves on the widow and the orphan because like their Father they strive to deliver those who cannot deliver themselves.

How many of you have ever muttered the phrase, "What am I going to do with you"? I can hear it coming from a mother who has just walked in on her child coloring on the walls. I can hear it from an exasperated couple arguing with each other. I can hear it from friends who have come into sharp disagreement. I can hear it coming from church members who have yet to find agreement on an issue they consider important. In almost every circumstance it is uttered not merely with bewilderment but also because the true desire of the heart is to love the other person.

In preparation for the study of deacons in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 I was struck by the requirement we have to serve one another. So I started looking through the scriptures and I arrived at 65 verses which explicitly give direction for how we as Christians are supposed to treat one another. It seemed an excellent opportunity for a truly applicational study. With so many verses we could easily get bogged down in detail but let's move quickly through this and I'll provide a complete listing¹ of verses for you to reference for your own study.

If we start at the beginning we turn to the most important commandment for dealing with anyone else on the planet...