Coworker in financial trouble, biblical response?

[Called4Christ]

"I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourself, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. (Luke 16:9).

This is where God is inviting you to look at life thru His eyes. He wants you to live life thru Spiritual truth and nothing outside of it, lest ye be a victim of worry..

Here is a humble man, in your friend, who is striving to support his family, and he has actually asked you for help in time of need to do so.. God teaches us that in this situation without fail, we should be prepared to offer resources and wisdom to those in need. Now the battle begins right? How much? How much is right according to God's will, and what amount would be best over good enough if I want to show my love to my Lord best served?

Verse after verse tells us to procure a generous heart, yet He also talks about living on the basis of His wisdom and not our own. So, first things first: Be in continual prayer, and "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6).

In Gen. 1:26-29, God starts us out with Him handing us the torch of stewardship of the things of this earth. God wants us to voice our personality in Him and act out on His behalf. So, God trusts you to trust Him in other words, as you are in Him wholly. With that said, the actual dollar amount is up to you giving way in you understanding of both what you desire to gain in the truth of Spiritual truth and in way of responsibility in love offered congruent with the responsibility of stewardship, thus concluding with the guidance of the Holy Spirit the amount you will give. Meditate on things God has made already clear in principles to you, from His Word, and life experiences, and ask God to invest in you to come up with the correct dollar number, don't be afraid to pray specifically.. God will give you His "ought to" for you.

Satan is dying to get involved too. Ask God to guard your heart, for if you give to be honored by men for your great generosity, you are giving for the wrong reason. If 200 felt good, but you feel guilty for not giving 400 this is not the voice of God, guilt is not a tool of motivation from God, it is not the voice of God. If you give to gain as an investment of stuff over a gain in faithful closeness to your relationship with God, which He promises then to reward, you have not used Luke 6:38 correctly either, "Give, and it will be given to you."

And then there is financial folly. God wants us to use our mind, to be efficient in our love bearing gifts. He asks us to save, to work, to pay attention to investment and return values best served for His Kingdom. Spiritual Stewardship, is not concerned with worldly Stewardship, but is wanting us to take control of the things of this earth, for His Kingdoms sake.

Also, God's Word says, to use wealth to "gain friends" for yourself, but doesn't say to "impress people" so that they want to be your friends. This too is Satan side-stepping you in gift-giving. Ultimately it comes down to: "Love God as a verb, never stepping outside of whom you are as a Christ-lead human being, and all things will turn out good for those who love the Lord." And after testing the Spirits, God will quietly and assuredly place an "Ought-to" in your mind. I suggest you go with that.

Thank you so very much.

It's interesting that you chose to use Proverbs 3:5-6 when writing your response, because it is the very verse I used when speaking to and praying with my coworker.

You're right when you mention guilt as a tool of Satan; it's been a very effective tool against me in the past and I hadn't even recognized the potential source until you reminded me. Sometimes I feel like it comes from within myself, but you're right- it could be Satan's attempt to involve himself.


Thank you again for your advice and counsel.

 

[Called4Christ]

Be aware that wages are often garnished as a percentage of ones wages or as a judge decides what a person can afford to pay. This $250 is probably the first deduction of many yet to come. That's why he's sad. Also be aware that these things aren't done in secret, so I sincerely doubt he was taken by surprise or forgot about this bad debt, he had to be aware of the collection efforts. Your not helping a poor person, your helping a irresponsible person, and there's a big difference. He won't learn anything if people bail him out. Sometimes God lets us experience difficult times to teach us valuable lessons, you throwing money at him won't help him become a responsible adult. He burned someone on a debt he didn't pay, and there are repercussions for that. I'd proceed carefully and get the whole story, it seems odd that his lights were turned off so fast, I'm guessing he was behind on his power bills prior to his wages being garnished? Get the truth and not a sob story, and don't help someone who can't manage money or is living beyond his means. He's not paying his bills, and unless your prepared to pay the next deduction too, I'd avoid throwing good money after bad. This may seem harsh, but I've had more than one bad experience helping out deadbeats who don't pay their bills.

"Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed..Owe no man any thing" (Romans 13:7-8). "The wicked borrow and do not repay" (Psalm 37:21)

You're right, I hadn't considered that it might be God giving him the opportunity for a lesson.

However, I acted with the intent of love and in the spirit of grace. He seemed very, very shell-shocked that it happened. (I don't think he understood that garnishments are a legal court order because he said "I never gave permission for this to be on my check!". Only when I said that it was a court order matter, not a matter of him giving permission, did he settle from anger into despair).

Now, if it happens again he won't be shell shocked and should have been preparing since the garnishment originally hit. I counseled him to immediately find a financial advisor or someone who could help him settle this debt. He said he found someone to help him, so that's good. I don't think I'll be able to financially assist next time, other than prayer.

 

[Called4Christ]

Hey Called4Christ, Interesting reading your situation! I don't know of any scripture which might be relevant to you off the top of my head, only the advice of "Love your neighbor as yourself". This person is your coworker, so you are neighbored to them through work relations... and giving them money when you can afford to is a very Godly act! You can always trust God to provide for you when you need Him, just by doing his will and letting him shine through your private thoughts and deeds. Just be in your coworkers situation, if you were in debt, what would 200 dollars feel like? Pretty great if you ask me. 400 too! Anything would help. Any deed of giving would be worth to the Lord what it would feel like for YOU to receive it on your lowest day. BTW Though, 250 a Month for a gym?!? Wayyyyy too much lol.

Hey Lettuce! (Clever name by the way, I literally "lol'd")

The gym itself is 35/month, I'm paying for a weekly personal trainer for 220/month. It's really expensive, but being put in the hospital really frightened me so I want to make sure I have someone helping me stay accountable and providing me a sense of fitness direction. Back to the issue at hand:

Thank you for your kind words. If I was in debt $200.00 would be a lot and asking for help at all would be really, really tough. Thanks for putting it in that perspective

 

[slave]

Hi everyone,
Thank you for your responses, sorry it took so long for me to log back in. I prayed over it as Depleted suggested and thought a lot about everyone's responses, my own heart, and I asked God to please just tell me, somehow, because I had no idea what to do. I went to sleep. I literally dreamed about finding $200.00 on the ground and thinking "This is for _______". When I woke up, I considered the dream, prayed again, and felt at peace with giving my coworker $200. It's just 40 shy of the entire bill and it's double what he asked for. (I found later that the exact amount he was garnished was closer to $240)

When I gave it to him, I told him it was a gift and to not worry about repaying me, to be at peace.
The next day when I saw him his spirits had lifted.

Last night I got a call for a last minute babysitting gig and they gave me a bonus- for a grand total of $50! I also earned enough overtime this pay period to earn nearly $100 (before taxes of course) in OT. All of this extra will go back into my savings account to replace what I had given my coworker.

Perfect! You have been thoughtful in your stewardship balanced first with having a broken heart for others and being faithful in God's purposes. Your sight is on the value of Spiritual Truths and God has laid a number on you which you obeyed immediately. God will be faithful to you my friend, and will use that gift in his life to His measure. Keep it up!

Many people would have focused on what's wrong with your decision, and would go to dissect it endlessly, focusing on human reasoning to balance the scales. I have seen you seeking God, whatever that may be. And by that child-like faith have not lost sight of what God makes right. I have a son your age and if you were my son I would be proud of you! But ill regardless of you and I even knowing each other, in the single-mindedness of Christ, I am still proud of you! Smile. .

"And we know in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." ~(Romans 8:28). ~