10 Bible Verses About Poverty That Show God’s Compassionate and Loving Heart
These Bible verses (shown below from the New International Version translation) highlight the importance of compassion, generosity and justice in addressing poverty and helping those in need. They remind us of God's heart for the poor and call us to action, inspiring us to extend love and assistance to those experiencing poverty and injustice.
Proverbs 14:31
"Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God."
Proverbs 19:17
"Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done."
Isaiah 58:10
"If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday."
Matthew 25:40
"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"
Luke 3:11
"John answered, 'Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.'"
Luke 12:33
"Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys."
Acts 20:35
"In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
James 2:15-16
"Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?"
1 John 3:17
"If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?"
Psalm 82:3-4
"Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."