Continued 👇🏾
✍🏾Almsgiving as Protection and Salvation
The one who listens to the cry of the poor and answers with mercy will find mercy when in need.
Almsgiving becomes a shelter in the day of trouble.
“Blessed is he who considers the poor; the Lord will deliver him in the day of trouble.” — Psalm 41:1–2
“Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it.” Ecclesiastes 11:1
✍🏾The Hidden Meaning of “Casting Bread”
How can one throw bread upon water and find it again?
This is the mystery of faith.
Casting your bread upon the waters means giving your alms to those in need.
Finding it after many days means receiving your eternal reward in the Kingdom of Heaven.
So, give your alms quietly, without display or boasting.
Do not give to be seen or praised.
As it is written:
“When your brother becomes poor, strengthen him.” Leviticus 25:35
“You shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother.” — Deuteronomy 15:7
✍🏾The Reward of Hidden Giving
He who gives in secret will be rewarded openly by God.
Almsgiving purifies sin, opens the gates of mercy, and brings grace both in this world and the next.
Every coin, every meal, every act of kindness given in the fear of God becomes a prayer rising to heaven.
✍🏾The Danger of Neglecting Almsgiving
Those who fail to give alms or give carelessly and without compassion will lose many blessings. In the end, they will face punishment just as those who refuse to give at all.
One of the sins that draws a curse upon a person is the lack of mercy toward the poor.
👉🏾The Prophet teaches
“He who does not remember to give alms sends misfortune upon himself and upon the poor.”
To ignore the suffering of the needy is to close one’s heart to God Himself.
By giving alms, a person imitates the action of his Creator, who gives freely and continually to all His creatures.
✍🏾A person who is capable of working should not depend on others’ charity. Instead, he should strive with his own hands and help others when possible.
👉🏾Almsgiving is not weakness; it is participation in God’s mercy.
👉🏾Almsgiving saves from evil.
👉🏾It atones for sins.
Just as water extinguishes fire, so alms extinguish sin.
This teaching has been preserved from the ancient fathers of the Church, for mercy toward others calls down mercy from heaven.
👉🏾Saint Yohannes Afewerk reminds the faithful:
“You who say, ‘I have given many times, it is enough’ do you not eat morning and evening? Then give morning and evening also! Do you not see that the poor are like yourself?”
True almsgiving is continual, like daily bread. Compassion is not to be rationed.
Almsgiving is given so that, by doing good to others, we may receive good things from God.
“Give, and it will be given to you.”Matthew 10:8
“God loves a cheerful giver.” — 2 Corinthians 9:7–12
Many were saved through the grace of almsgiving.
Even King Manasseh, when afflicted by his enemies, was delivered from their punishment through his acts of mercy.
The holy apostles, following the will and commandments of the Lord, taught the same truth:
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” — Acts 20:35
Almsgiving must be done with love and sincerity, not as an act of pride or public display.
Saint James warns:
“To him who knows to do good and does not do it, it is sin.” James 4:17
Therefore, let every act of giving spring from the heart.
Not all who give are pleasing to God, for He examines the heart and conscience, not the outward action.
Giving clothes, shoes, or money is not enough if the heart remains proud.
The Lord who “searches the heart and the kidneys” knows whether our deeds are born from compassion or from vanity.
Continues 👇🏾