Deuteronomy 13-16
Hardening Our Hearts to Those in Need

It is easy to "look the other way" when we see someone in need; to ignore them. When we must look at them, it is easy then to make some excuse as to why we should not help them. This is what God called hardening one's heart against the poor.

God instructed the Israelites in Deuteronomy 15:7-11, "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, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, The seventh year, the year of release is near, and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, you shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land."

God gave the responsibility of taking care of one another to His people. They were not to turn their backs on their brethren in need. They were to lend as there was need, without making excuses ("the year of release is near"-in other words, If I give, I'll lose my money). There was nothing wrong with the lender expecting his money back; but, if the money could not be paid back, he was to lend anyway. What about the money he lost? Don't worry about the money, God said-He would bless them.

As we have discussed before, as human beings we have a responsibility to help anyone in need (Galatians 6:10) to some degree. But, we have special obligations to keep our eyes open to the needs of our fellow saints and not harden our hearts to their needs. We could look the other way when we see a saint in need. We could say, "Well, they brought it on themselves..." or "They will never pay me back. I'll loose my money!" Jesus said in Luke 6:30, "Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your good do not demand them back." We have an obligation to help other Christians. We can give with an expectation to receive what we have given back when the difficult times cease for that brother or sister, but if even then they cannot return what we have lent, then we must release them of their debt to us and move on, trusting in God to take care of us and bless us. Let me add this note: These instructions don't excuse the brother who refuses to work or is dishonest in his dealings with the lending brother. If the poor brother has sinned somehow, that must be dealt with.

What we find is that the Christian must always be watchful for the needs of his brethren in particular. In essence, his brother is an extension of himself in the body of Christ. When those needs manifest themselves, if he can, he must act in an unselfish way. He does this because he loves his fellow Christian and longs to be used of God as an instrument of improvement in the lot of others.