The Bible emphasizes the importance of taking care of widows and orphans. Many cite this in defense of government welfare programs but there is a fundamental flaw: they don’t understand the context. In Biblical times, just as today, there was no shortage of widows or orphans, but back then if a woman was widowed or a child was left parentless, they had no other options. Women often relied on their husbands. If their husband died, they had nothing. In today’s world, there are jobs available to widows and options for orphans. If they are not able to work, the Bible is clear is saying it is the remaining family’s job to take care of the widow or orphan, if they can’t or won’t, then the duty falls on the church, but never the government and never out of federal obligation (1 Tim 5:3-16). This care comes from Christian duty–an overflow of love and allocation of funds that God has gifted to His people for His purposes. It is not the job of the government or the taxpayer. If a widow or orphan or otherwise poor person can work, they should work (2 Thess. 3:10). If they cannot, then the church should take care of them. Social programs like welfare cause the participant to fall into a system of laziness. It’s the path of least resistance. If you enable a person to live beyond their means, they will take advantage of it. “If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day, if you teach a man to fish…” finish that anyway you want but it results in the man being able to take care of himself. Welfare programs don’t teach responsibility like struggling does. The Christian should help where they can but not give everything to everyone. God loves hard work. He doesn’t want His people to be lazy and welfare programs often encourage this. Where people are taking advantage of welfare programs, there is more poverty. It more contributes to the problem than serves as a solution to it.

Respond to Amber’s thread (200-275 words)