Charity Filters

(Pro 3:27 KJV)  Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

There is a distinction here that we don’t like to acknowledge.  It makes us uncomfortable.  It forces us to make value judgements and we all know that we should not judge, don’t we?  Evidently that caution does not mean what it is usually used to mean.  In this verse the benevolence we are expected to administer is to those to whom it is “due” (1167), not just everyone.

The phrase here means literally to the “owner, husband, lord.”  These are categories of people to whom we have a commitment.  While we can find other passages that probably refer to being concerned for the whole world, this is specifically talking about those that might deserve our concern.  The context is people that you owe.

So?  We are to be concerned about the poor in a generic sense, true.  But this is talking about those you have commitments to.  When times get rough it might behoove us as Christians to make a priority to be sharing with those who are a part of the body.  Our current affluence means that we share widely but if things start to come apart we need to focus on the family of God for our assistance.