In James 4:17, it says, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” When we talk about sin, we mostly think of those willful acts of disobedience that violate God’s law and love.
For example:
The Bible says, Thou shalt not bear false witness or simply stated thou shalt not lie. That’s what we shouldn’t do, but what should we do? Tell the truth. It is a sin to know the truth and not tell it.
The same goes for other prohibitions in the Bible. Instead of stealing, be honest. Instead of killing, honor life, and on and on we could go.
We are very familiar with all the sins of commission, what we shouldn’t do, but what about the sins of omission or the things we should do. There are things we are told to do in the Bible and if we choose to ignore them, it is a sin.
In the same letter from James, in chapter 2, he tells us it is a sin to show partiality or to discriminate. He then goes on to say, what we should do is, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Paul said we are to “regard one another as more important than ourselves.”
This is precisely why Wichita Falls Faith Mission exists.
The Bible is very clear about compassion and generosity. God is for both.
Deuteronomy 15:11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore, I command you, “You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.”
Jesus said, “When you did it to one of the least of these, you did it unto Me.”
And Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 9:11 what we are to do with our blessings, “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way.”
It’s not just wrong to be greedy and stingy, it is also wrong to not be generous and compassionate.
We all have to search our hearts to know what that looks like. We know, for instance that it is wrong to be irresponsible and lazy. That is why we value hard work and personal responsibility. Sometimes an apparent act of compassion may be enabling. So we try to tailor our help in ways that help people help themselves. It can be a tough balance to strike, but what is not tough to understand is that God told us to be generous. What does that look like for you?
