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lilitalienboi16:
Hey all,

So I'm reaching out to you because an acquantance I only know online reachend out to me personally requesting financial support for his mother and sister who are currently homeless. You can read about their struggle here: https://www.gofundme.com/juliesfight16

My question is, being these people are merely acquantainces, infact I know not the mother, should I give money that I really don't have, to help someone in need who reached out to me?

I know there are scriptures which teach to be ready to given an answer to those who ask us the reason of our hope. This person personally reached out and asked me in prkvate for any support. Jesus also said if a man ask you to go a mile with him, then go two. If he sue you for your shirt then give him your cloak too. Now I'm not beeing sued or asked to walk a literall mile and I know that God has a plan and that I cannot change it or thwart it, but I also want to do right and do that which the mind of Christ compels all those with His spirit to do in this situation. So what say my brothers and sisters? If I don't try and give even if I have so little, would I not be no different then the carnal minded world or would this act of giving be nothing more than filthy rags? Aside from asking for guidance from you all here, I intend to deal with this entirely in secret, I desire no mention or credit from it.

Please help! Scripture support would be very much appreciated too. I need the mind of Christ on this.

Thank you all.

Love in Christ,
Alex

lareli:
Treat others how you want to be treated. 

Dave in Tenn:
Here's a little "wisdom", but it won't help you make a decision, most likely. 

Just from the way you've asked the question, I can see you have at least an inkling of how the Lord judges GOOD WORKS. 

Love your neighbor as yourself.  Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.  The Lord loveth a cheerful giver.    Give out of your abundance.  Etc. Etc. Etc.  He that doesn't take care of his family is worse than an infidel.  Etc. Etc. Etc. 

You could be a billionaire and not get anything "right".  Or you could be a cash-strapped college student and get it "right"...at least as right as you can now.  It ain't always gonna be this way. 

Dennis Vogel:
No way to tell if it's legitimate or not. We've had persons on this forum make a few posts then ask for money.

Your money, your call.

Extol:
Hi brother,

I have often wished that I could give money to more people who are suffering. If I had a billion dollars, oh what a difference I could make! But that is not how God has set things up. His plan is for there to be a lot of suffering in this life, and I don't think it will ever end with any amount of human aid. There have been innumerable campaigns with the stated goal of ending hunger or poverty or drug use or whatever. They all fail, because Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it (Ps. 127:1). Jesus said "The poor you will always have with you" (Matt. 26:11), and the Law of Moses said the same thing (Deut. 15:11). It hurts to think of all the people who are suffering, but there's going to be suffering until the return of the King.

I say this not to discourage you from giving (the same passage which says the poor will always be here also encourages generous giving--Deut. 15:10-11)--but to remind you that we can't give to everyone who asks, so you don't have to agonize over this if you choose not to give. If you drove around Springfield, Missouri for a couple hours and gave to everyone who was "homeless" and asking for help, you'd have no money left. I used to enjoy giving money to homeless people (it made me feel "righteous"), but I rarely do it anymore, because of all the phonies out there. There are many genuine cases, of course, but asking for handouts is a racket, and people can make a living out of it. Ugly as the idea may be, Dennis is right to question the legitimacy of this campaign. The racketeers aren't just standing at the highway exits; they know how to use computers too.

You were personally asked in private to contribute, but keep in mind the guy probably asked all of his other acquaintances, privately and/or publicly, to contribute. People who know them better are contributing, so Julie's War Against Homelessness is not going to be won or lost based on whether you give or not.

Give if you want to, and the Lord bless you for it, but don't feel guilty if you don't.

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