Faithful on Fridays Blog

Part Six

Completing this series on our responsibility to the poor within our our communities, we can’t leave out the Apostle Paul. He wrote to the Philippian Church,

Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Philippians 2:4-5 

What was Jesus’ attitude? If you keep reading you’ll find the answer. Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, in order to serve His image-bearers, emptied Himself of His divine, heavenly form and took on human form: God became man. You would’ve thought there’d be an air of superiority in His mind and actions, but there wasn’t. He came to serve by giving tangible evidence of the love of the Father. That was the attitude Paul wanted the church to copy.

Writing to the Ephesian Church,

… use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.

Ephesians 4:28b 

To the Galatian Church,

For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself. Galatians 5:14

To the Thessalonian Church, 

… your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.

1 Thessalonians 1:8 ESV

If they weren’t saying anything then it must’ve been their acts of kindness and generosity that followed what they believe; it brought people to faith. That was Jesus’ attitude: faith and action. Paul followed up with these words,

But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God Himself has taught you to love one another. Indeed, you already show your love for all the believers throughout Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you to love them even more. 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10

… always try to do good to each other and to all people. 1 Thessalonians 5:15

Doing good to all people in your realm of influence, that’s the mind of Christ. He gave tangible evidence of His love through healing, delivering, feeding, miracles, teaching, preaching, and now the ball is our court. Maybe you already do a lot and you can’t do one more thing.

… dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good. 2 Thessalonians 3:13

Paul wrote to Pastor Timothy,

Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life. 1 Timothy 6:18-19

What’s in your wallet?

… I want you to insist on these teachings so that all who trust in God will devote themselves to doing good. These teachings are good and beneficial for everyone. Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive. Titus 3:8, 14