Proverbs 19: Giving

For more context before you begin studying, read this introduction to the book of Proverbs.

With the poor come knotty questions for all who view them with compassion: How can I meet so much need from my limited resources? How do I choose whom to help and whom to pass by? How do I balance the needs of the poor with the requests for help from my children, my aged parents or my extended family? The proverbs in this study help us in two ways. First, they guide us through the moral conflicts we encounter when confronted with the material neediness of others. Second, they give an antidote to the folly which exalts acquisitiveness as a social and economic virtue. Our prosperity, it turns out, may be a result of our giving rather than our getting.

Warming Up to God

Recall a time when you have been in need and received a gift that encouraged you. Thank God for that provision.

Read Proverbs 19

Discovering the Word

• When is it better to be poor (vv. 1, 22)?
• What do you learn about the difficulties of poverty from Proverbs 19 (vv. 3, 7)?
• What experience have you had with the problem mentioned in verse 6?
• How can we avoid that problem?
• Verse 17 implies a motive for giving that is almost never mentioned or, if mentioned, viewed as sub-Christian. What is it?
• Why do you think people are uncomfortable with that kind of motive?

Applying the Word

• When is giving to the poor difficult for you?
• Beginning this week, how can your giving to the poor reflect the wisdom of these proverbs?

Responding in Prayer

Pray for "unfailing love" (v. 22) that will allow you to give as God would want you to.