Deuteronomy 16:14
“and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your towns”.
This verse speaks much about community. God wants to connected to it. Our first responsibility is to our immediate family. 1 Timothy 5:8 says, “If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” The context is financially preparing for them. It’s safe to say that from there we should provide for them emotionally and so on. Those two jobs take an enormous amount of our time and resources.
We aren’t to forget that we are connected to the church. Beyond the family the next ring would be our small group. These tend to be our friends from church who we do life with. We see these people weekly or at least several times per month. If there are needs present then we should step up. We may also have believers who we connect with at school or work.
Beyond that, we bump into people who have needs. It may be those at work, in the neighborhood or just on the way. We are give in those circumstances.
We may not have the time or recourses. This is when we trust God. He will reward us. Malachi 3:10 challenges us to give. God promises to pour down His resources from heaven.
Most of my financial giving is to the church. It has outreach to the poor in the community, mission projects and ministry to the church. They are committed in a full time fashion to ministry in these areas. I am able to support the community through my gifts to the church. That’s how God designed it.
Lord, thank You for the church and how You use it to bless many. Help us to be involved in the community in the ways You lead us.