What can I do to help the helpless?
John 13:34-35“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
John 15:12“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.”
Romans 13:8-9Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galatians 5:13-14You have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
1 John 4:7-8, 11-12Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. . . . Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
Loving God should inspire us to love others, and loving others should inspire us to help those in need.
Proverbs 27:6Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.
Matthew 7:3, 5“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? . . . Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”
Ephesians 4:15Speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
Galatians 6:1-3If another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.
Believers should speak hard truths gently, humbly, and in love. Though we are told to be humble and address our own sins and weaknesses, staying silent when we see dangerous patterns in other’s lives is hardly loving. If we truly care about someone, we should warn the person kindly and encourage him or her in the faith. Through this, we may save that person a great deal of pain down the road.
Psalm 82:4Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people.
Proverbs 31:8-9Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.
Luke 12:33“Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe; no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it.”
1 Timothy 5:16If a woman who is a believer has relatives who are widows, she must take care of them and not put the responsibility on the church. Then the church can care for the widows who are truly alone.
Our help to others should be a picture of God’s love in action through us. Godliness is God living and loving through us.
Matthew 12:10-12He [Jesus] noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?” (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.) And he answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would. And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.”
Acts 20:35“And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Romans 12:13When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.
We should make helping others a priority and a blessed habit.
Genesis 14:14-16When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with them at Dan. There he divided his men and attacked during the night. Kedorlaomer’s army fled, but Abram chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. Abram recovered all the goods that had been taken, and he brought back his nephew Lot with his possessions and all the women and other captives.
Sometimes helping others requires a great deal of effort and perseverance. Helping is active, not passive.
