People and Things

God has used the resources of the willing to benefit individuals, institutions, and societies for centuries. Satan has used them to inspire and facilitate “all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10). Jesus counsels, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth. . . . But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matt. 6:19, 20). Our challenge is to use and value things and people with the same measure that God uses.—Editors.

“You had better be a poor man and a rich Christian, than a rich man and a poor Christian. You had better do anything, bear anything, and be anything rather than be a dwarf in grace.”

Thomas Brooks

“A nation proclaiming equal justice should not tolerate discrimination.”

Calvin Rock

“Jesus’ teachings concretized the meaning of his message: God’s kingdom is at hand! When you are wronged, he counseled, and feel the natural urge to retaliate—stop! Since God’s kingdom is at hand, search for a better, more creative response.”

Thomas N. Finger

“‘Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,
I will now arise,’ says the Lord.
‘I will protect them from those who malign them.’”

King David (Ps. 12:5)

“We are not cisterns made for hoarding; we are channels made for sharing.”

Billy Graham

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.”

God, through the prophet Isaiah (Isa. 58:6-9)

“Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.”

Jesus (Luke 12:33)

“Whoever heard me spoke well of me,
and those who saw me commended me,
because I rescued the poor who cried for help,
and the fatherless who had none to assist them.”

Job (Job 29:11, 12)

“Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

“In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor.”

Luke (Acts 9:36)

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

Apostle Paul (2 Cor. 8:9)

“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.”

Solomon (Prov. 19:17)

“Self-worth and net worth are not the same.”

Rick Warren