Catechism--Seventh Commandment--You shall not steal. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbors money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.
Matthew 5:42--Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Devotion--One thing that God desires from His Church on earth is that all the people who make up that Church would look to the good of one another. While we are each individuals who have been saved through God's grace in Christ Jesus, God forms us all together in one body, that of Christ Jesus. That body serves to look to the good of one another, just as God has looked to our good and has served us.
Part of that good involves looking to protect or even improve the gifts that God has given to our neighbor. We may look at the differences that are found in how God has provided for our fellow members of the body of Christ, and at times, we may even think that God is unfair in His distribution. Some seem to have more than others. Some work hard only to get a little, while others may seem to coast by and receive much more than what seems fair.
And yet, God's will in this matter doesn't change, regardless of how God distributes His gifts. We have the opportunity to look to the good of one another, and to help one another improve and protect what God has given.
Now, if we lived in such a way that we shared all things equally, this would seem to be pretty easy to do. We would easily see the benefit of looking to improve and protect because it would come around to assist us. But when it doesn't seem to serve us in any particular way, we often have a difficult time justifying why we should do so. Plus, we may not have many ideas on how exactly we would go about helping our neighbor improve and protect his gifts from God.
Might I suggest that we simply start by looking to do something that adds value to our neighbor and his things? If he is working on a project, maybe we can assist him in its completion. If he needs assistance in the upkeep of his place, we can offer a helping hand. As we engage the creativity that God has put inside us, we will probably find many different ways that we can help to improve and protect our neighbor's gifts from God.
Matthew 5:42--Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Devotion--One thing that God desires from His Church on earth is that all the people who make up that Church would look to the good of one another. While we are each individuals who have been saved through God's grace in Christ Jesus, God forms us all together in one body, that of Christ Jesus. That body serves to look to the good of one another, just as God has looked to our good and has served us.
Part of that good involves looking to protect or even improve the gifts that God has given to our neighbor. We may look at the differences that are found in how God has provided for our fellow members of the body of Christ, and at times, we may even think that God is unfair in His distribution. Some seem to have more than others. Some work hard only to get a little, while others may seem to coast by and receive much more than what seems fair.
And yet, God's will in this matter doesn't change, regardless of how God distributes His gifts. We have the opportunity to look to the good of one another, and to help one another improve and protect what God has given.
Now, if we lived in such a way that we shared all things equally, this would seem to be pretty easy to do. We would easily see the benefit of looking to improve and protect because it would come around to assist us. But when it doesn't seem to serve us in any particular way, we often have a difficult time justifying why we should do so. Plus, we may not have many ideas on how exactly we would go about helping our neighbor improve and protect his gifts from God.
Might I suggest that we simply start by looking to do something that adds value to our neighbor and his things? If he is working on a project, maybe we can assist him in its completion. If he needs assistance in the upkeep of his place, we can offer a helping hand. As we engage the creativity that God has put inside us, we will probably find many different ways that we can help to improve and protect our neighbor's gifts from God.
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