Poverty is a shared aspect of the human experience, touching each of us differently. Whether you’ve witnessed or experienced poverty or not, our aim for our Approaching Poverty devotional is to encourage a compassionate and Biblical perspective on poverty.
This 7-day devotional will walk you through an understanding of why poverty exists, why we should help and how we should help.
Get the [free] Approaching Poverty 7-Day Devotional
This 7-day devotional will walk you through understanding why poverty exists, why we should help, and how we should help.
Each day will include scripture, a written reflection, and a mixture of reflection questions or connecting stories from the ground in Guinea-Bissau.
"*" indicates required fields
Here are three aspects of poverty you’ll learn more about in the devotional.
1. Why there is poverty
In the Bible, the poor are the widow and the orphan, the beggar and the blind, the leper and the sojourner. They are the people who are excommunicated and outcast from society – and therefore typically left without the resources to care for themselves.
Millions of people in today’s world are experiencing poverty daily. Whether it is people without a home or access to clean water or food, or a family with no consistent income – poverty is as rampant as it is diverse.
In the first part of this devotional we will look at the root of poverty – and God’s plan for it.
2. Why we should help
If poverty comes from sin and a broken world, then poverty can only be eliminated when there is no sin and we no longer live in a broken world. Only God knows when that day will come. So it can be easy to wonder: “Why help if the problem will persist?”
Similarly, it can be easy to feel that the problem is so large and overwhelming that nothing we do will be big enough to make a difference. “Will my one donated meal make an impact when hundreds of millions of people will still be hungry?”
The reality is that serving the poor will not lead to the eradication of worldwide poverty. But, it can make a real difference for many people. And more importantly, when helping is done with the right intentions, it glorifies God.
This is why God commands us to have compassion and care for the poor, so that we may demonstrate our faith, strengthen our relationship with Him, and grow His kingdom in the process.
3. How we should help
Understanding that we should help the poor is one thing, but what comes next? The instinct may be to jump in immediately and do everything we can. But it’s important to take the time to cultivate the right mindset and practices to be able to serve people well.
Unfortunately, good intentions in helping the poor have sometimes led to hurtful consequences. A few years ago, a group of well-intentioned foreigners visited a rural refugee village in Guatemala. They planned to identify a practical need within the community they could meet. After observing the women in the village spending a large part of their day traveling down a treacherous path to a nearby stream for various chores or to collect water, they decided to build a water tower, thinking it would save time and make life easier.
Months of construction and thousands of dollars later, the village had a water tower. Patting themselves on the back, the group left the village congratulating themselves on a job well done. However, the group assumed the village could install its own pump — which was not as easy as they thought. When that didn’t happen, the village was left with an empty water tower, now used by prostitutes as a gathering spot.
The stream and pathway to it remain as busy as ever.
Not every effort will have such dramatic results, and the point isn’t to discourage helping because of the fear of negative impact. Rather, it’s a reminder that having the right attitude and approach is crucial in serving the poor well.
Thankfully, the Bible provides clear guidance on how we can approach helping others in a way that prevents our well-meaning actions from having a harmful impact.
We hope this devotional not only deepens your understanding of poverty but also inspires you to take compassionate, thoughtful action that reflects God’s love.
