This Proverb says, “The poor is hated by his neighbor, but those who love the rich are many. He who despises his neighbor sins, but happy is he who is gracious to the poor.”
This Proverb makes the point that we tend to be uncomfortable around those who are poor. Why is that? I believe it is because we are fearful that the poor people around us will ask us to give them something. Most people do not want to be confronted with such requests because they hold their possessions very tightly.
However, that is not the right attitude to have. The Bible says that Jesus values people who are generous and give to the poor. He doesn’t want us to hold our possessions tightly. He doesn’t want us to be selfish.
There are many poor people in this world. We cannot share our possessions with all of them. However, God will bring a few of them across our path. Those few we should consider to be our neighbors. We should help those who God places in our life.
The Bible indicates that all of the Commandments in the Bible can be summed up into these two: We are to love God and we are to love our neighbors. Obeying these Commandments will yield many blessings in our lives. One of those blessings is joy. As this Proverb indicates, we will be happy if we are generous and give to the poor.
