Don’t Look Down on the Poor

James 2:2-4
2 For example, a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor man dressed in dirty clothes also comes in. 3 If you look with favor on the man wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here in a good place,” and yet you say to the poor man, “Stand over there,” or, “Sit here on the floor by my footstool,” 4 haven’t you discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

As Christians, we are supposed to be willing to give a helping hand to all that need it, even if the person who needs a hand out is our enemy. Yes, even our enemies.  When we feed them not only are we doing what God wants us to do, but it could earn us a friend, and a potential follower of Christ.  Even if it doesn’t work out that way, you have let them know that you are a better person than they are which is a win as well.

Romans 12:20 English Standard Version (ESV)
20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Sometimes the issue of helping people can seem complicated, you don’t really know the person you are giving money to, so there is a chance that they will misuse the money.
While it is nice to be sure your money is going to a real necessity, you really can’t consider his or her motives for wanting help, you can’t be responsible for what they do, you are in the end only responsible for your actions. If you feel God is wanting you to feed someone it is on you to do it. However, giving to the poor doesn’t always have to be about giving your hard earned cash away. Many restaurants and grocery stores have gift cards. You can give away gift cards which will reduce the chance of the money getting into the hands of a drug dealer. You can volunteer at a local homeless shelter. Give food to some charity like Golden Harvest Food Bank. 

Yes there are people who are more than willing to abuse our generosity, but you can’t let that stop you from doing what God wants us to do. Everyone has a story, some are so heartbreaking that it would leave you in tears all day. Talk to them, get to know their story before you judge them. They are people made in the image of God and with a hand up, they just might be able to get back on the right track.