God’s Deep Concern for the Poor

He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker, But he who is gracious to the needy honors Him. (‭Proverbs‬ ‭14‬:‭31‬ NASB)

When you oppress the poor, you mock God and provoke His wrath, but when you show them grace, you honor Him.

God cares for the poor a great deal. God expects us to humbly respect others, especially those whose status is “less than” our own.

We may not oppress the poor – we may not be in a position to – but we do not show them grace. Most of us probably hardly interact with them.

We need to show grace to the poor. We need to care for them. Otherwise we dishonor God and even risk His wrath.

If we forget about the poor, about whom God is deeply concerned, we are less like Christ than we ought to be.

We’re human and self-centered by nature, but His grace will empower us to overcome our self-centeredness and open ourselves up to others.

Precious Bond

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. (1 Corinthians 6:12-13 NASB)

If we are justified in Christ, we are free to do anything we please – there is no longer a law to prohibit us. We are allowed to do anything, but not everything is good for us.We are free to do anything, but let us refuse to be mastered by anything. For example, food is a good thing for the stomach, but neither food nor your stomach are eternal. But the body is NOT for sexual immorality – it is for the Lord.

God cares about the holiness of our bodies. God cares about what we do. God cares about who we are joined with. In fact He’s deeply invested in these things. There is a precious bond between us.

Physical pleasures – like gluttony and lust – can master us. Though we’re free to do what we want, some behaviors, such as sexual immorality, defile the bond between us and Christ.

Therefore, it is an error – if not a sin – to believe that we can do anything we want, and it won’t impact our relationship with Christ or the church at all.

We must avoid behaviors that affect our bodies negatively or that can take control of us because they defile the bond between us and Christ, taking His place in our lives. Your body is His.

We need to be pure and holy.

Jesus’ sacrifice and grace free us from the law, but they also empower us to live as we ought, rather than as we want to.