Poverty (Generous Hands)

𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠 𝗨𝗣

• Who around you would you say are “in need”? What would you say they need that only others can give them? 

• Share about a time that someone was kind to you. How did you feel? What was your response?

• Who would you say has had a positive influence on you? Would you say that positive influences are important in life? Why or why not? 

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦.” 𝗗𝗘𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗠𝗬 𝟲:𝟲-𝟳

(Read also 𝗗𝗘𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗠𝗬 𝟭𝟱:𝟲)

Moses reminded the Israelites, God’s chosen people, to keep all of His commandments in their hearts. They were to teach them, speak of them, and have them in mind every moment that they were awake. There were no exceptions to these commandments. 

They include the responsibility that God’s people have towards those who are limited in power or excluded from opportunities because of lack or poverty. God tells us that every moment we are awake, we must remember to show kindness and openness to the poor.

𝟭. 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝗯𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 

“𝘐𝘧 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 . . .” 𝗗𝗘𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗠𝗬 𝟭𝟱:𝟳

Moses reminded the Israelites that they were going to live in the land that God had given to them. They would not earn or win it by their own wealth or power. In response to this graciousness, the attitude of their hearts should be soft hearts and open hands to anyone among the people of God in need of something they can provide. How do you think you have been learning to be kind towards the poor? 

𝟮. 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱.

“. . . 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦.” 𝗗𝗘𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗠𝗬 𝟭𝟱:𝟴

The command of God does not stop at compassion and kindness. It goes beyond our attitude and requires our action. The Israelites were to notice and be aware of the needs of their brothers and sisters in the Lord. They were not to ignore those in need or say that it was none of their business. As a community, they were to give enough to cover the costs of those needs. What needs do you see around you? What action could you take? 

Deuteronomy 7:6–11 tells us that we, God’s people, have His salvation and presence not because of anything we have done to deserve it. Instead, it is only because He loved us first and loves us no matter what. We have these for free because He paid the price for us to live in the security of His salvation. There is no greater motivation to show kindness to others than this.

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

• What did Moses say about generosity in this passage? How does this apply to your life?

• When this commandment was given to them, the Israelites were approaching their Promised Land after God rescued them from slavery. What is the similarity of their story to ours as God’s people under the new covenant in Christ? 

• What attitude were the Israelites supposed to have towards the poor among God’s people? What attitude are we supposed to have towards the poor among our brothers and sisters in Christ? What is one action you can take this week to meet someone’s needs?

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥

• Thank God for His generosity to the Israelites and to us as His children. 

• Pray that God will soften your heart and open your hands to have an attitude and lifestyle of generosity. 

• Ask God to make you a blessing and a channel of His love to others this week.