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Social Justice
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effort costs far more than merely giving money. But it is the truest
charity
Often, the most effective way to help the poor is to offer edu-
cation in practical lines, providing opportunities for job placement
training, cooking classes, and personal finance. Those who are
taught to earn what they receive will more readily apply fiscal re-
sponsibility. In learning to be self-reliant, they are also empowered
and equipped to help others. Many persons who struggle financially
[95]
would benefit from learning economic management. Teach the im-
portance of living up to the potential Christ gives to each person
Jesus sought to correct the world’s false standard of judging the
value of men and women. He took His position with the poor that
He might lift the stigma from them. He has stripped the prejudice
from poverty by blessing the poor and inviting them to inherit His
kingdom. He points us to the same path He walked, saying, “If any
want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up
their cross daily and follow me.”
Luke 9:23
We are all woven together in the great web of humanity, and
whatever we can do to benefit and uplift others will reflect blessings
back to us. The law of mutual dependence runs through all classes
of society
Each of you can find something to do for the less fortunate.
“You always have the poor with you,” Jesus said
John 12:8
. Each of
you can find opportunities to help. Millions and millions of human
beings, ready to perish, bound in chains of ignorance and sin, have
never heard that Jesus loves them. What if their condition was ours,
and ours were theirs? What would we want them to do for us? The
answer to that question is what we are obligated to do for others.
Christ’s rule of life, by which every one of us must stand or fall in
the judgment, is: “In everything do to others as you would have
them do to you.”
Matthew 7:12
* * * * *
(For additional reading on this subject we recommend
Gospel
Workers, 13
,
The Ministry of Healing, 17
and
Welfare Ministry, 15
.)
