{"id":53795,"date":"2022-09-30T10:29:22","date_gmt":"2022-09-30T15:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselor.com\/?p=53795"},"modified":"2022-11-02T01:19:35","modified_gmt":"2022-11-02T06:19:35","slug":"principles-for-a-benevolence-policy-that-is-both-merciful-and-wise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselor.com\/?p=53795","title":{"rendered":"Principles for a Benevolence Policy That Is Both Merciful and Wise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">To be a Christian is to acknowledge that you are needy. It\u2019s one of the marks we read about in the Sermon on the Mount: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven\u201d (Matt.\u202f5:3). To follow Jesus, you must acknowledge you are spiritually bankrupt and incapable of saving yourself.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120}\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">A church, then, is a gathering of needy people. Every member recognizes his or her need for the righteousness of Christ (Rom.\u202f3:20), for God\u2019s grace (Eph.\u202f2:5), and for forgiveness (Col.\u202f1:13-14).<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120}\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">That said, our physical needs will vary. We may be on the same sea, but we\u2019re not in the same boat. Some of our boats have holes, some lack paddles. A church\u2019s benevolence ministry begins here: showing each other mercy amidst our different physical needs.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120}\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">In other words, benevolence is not only about giving people money to help solve their problems. It\u2019s about showing others the mercy and love we\u2019ve been shown. This understanding will both guard against a \u201csavior complex\u201d and keep us from trampling upon one another\u2019s God-given dignity.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559738&quot;:120,&quot;335559739&quot;:120}\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Here are several principles to keep in mind as you begin to develop your own policy.<span<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If we think benevolence is only about giving people money to help solve their problems, then we\u2019ll miss this. No, benevolence is about showing others the mercy and love we\u2019ve been shown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":677,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[793],"tags":[312],"class_list":["post-53795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9marks","tag-leadership","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/677"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53795"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53797,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53795\/revisions\/53797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}