God wants us to be truthful
It isn’t very often that I watch a TV programme that moves me to tears, but the BBC 1 series, Why Poverty? which kicked off with the episode Four Born Every Second, did.
Four Born Every Second followed four women residing in very different parts of the world: Sierra Leone, Cambodia, the UK and the USA. The two things all the women had in common were that they were poor and pregnant.
The programme brought home the terrible effects of poverty on infant mortality rates, mothers, and the children they gave birth to, and it left me with that what-can-I-do-to-change-things feeling. It also inspired me to turn to the Scriptures to remind myself of how God wants us to treat those who are poor and disadvantaged.
James 1:27 states, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows (single parents) in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
Further study of the Scriptures highlights that widows, orphans, fatherless children and single mothers have a special place in God’s heart, and that He wants people to treat them with love, care and compassion. Scriptures that testify to this include Psalms 68:5, Isaiah 1:17, Deuteronomy 10:18 and Exodus 22:22-24.
As we approach this Christmas season, let’s find ways to show the love of God to the poor and vulnerable here in the UK and abroad. Let’s also support initiatives that seek to end poverty across the globe, so that we can truly make the world a better place, and ensure that no child is denied the opportunity to be all that God desires them to be, just because they are poor.
