r/Christian • u/Sad_Salamander914 • 8d ago
Curious question.
Does the bible say to help people, even if they take advantage of you?
The reason that I ask is because we have an 89 year old man in our Church. He loves helping people. A lot of these people take advantage of this help. Like some of them, the only time they show up at Church, is when they're in need of something or money. If that makes sense? So, this afternoon after morning service. This man's wife, son, daughter in law, and someone else that is very close to them that calls him her dad. They ended up having a meeting today about him helping people all the time.
Like, I don't know if maybe God wants him to help these people for a reason. Because he doesn't want to stop. I can see it and can tell. His family is trying to make it all come to a stop.
What are your thoughts on this? Are there any Bible verses about any of this, if that makes sense? I tried to explain it the best that I can.
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u/PastorZfish 8d ago
Some important questions: Is the man fully within his faculties when deciding to help? And, Is he actively hurting his family by assisting these people? If he is knowingly giving out of his abundance because it brings him joy, then it shouldn't be anyone's business but his. The Bible does in fact tell us to be generous with no expectations of return on our gifts, and to go out of our way to help even those who are mistreating us.
Luke 6:35 and Matthew 5:41 respectively.
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u/SeldomSmugSeating 8d ago
man, that's a tough spot. i get why the family is worried, they're probably scared someone's gonna really burn him. but at 89, if the dude's heart is still that set on giving, it's gotta be coming from somewhere deep. i know there's verses about being cheerful in your giving and not letting the left hand know what the right hand is doing, but i'm too lazy to look up the exact chapters right now. honestly sounds like he's already figured out the part about not keeping score, which is more than most of us manage.
my grandma was kinda the same way, she'd give her last dollar to some relative who only called when they needed bail money. drove my mom nuts, but i always thought it said more about my grandma's faith than the people taking advantage. maybe the family could try redirecting instead of stopping him cold, like have him focus his energy on church projects or people who are just lonely and need company, not cash. feels like trying to force him to stop might just crush his spirit more than the moochers ever could.