The Bottom Line, Ministries Christian News, Articles, & Poetry 
The love of God is evident in our lives through a desire to help others, both spiritually and physically by the meeting of needs. Our elderly citizens who’ve spent a lifetime working and being productive, our military personnel who sacrifice so much for our freedoms, and those who live with disabilities should all be cared for where needed.
The problem is the misuse of the aid being offered. Assistance should not be handed out to able-bodied adults who can and should contribute to this society. The facts leave little room for debate. According to a 1994 report from the Maryland NAACP, “the ready access to a lifetime of welfare and free social programs is a major contributory factor to the crime problems we face today.” Research for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services showed that with the 50% increase in monthly value of combined AFDC and food stamp benefits came a whopping 117% increase in crime rates among young black men alone. History backs this up through statistics from the 1930s and 40s which show that crime during the Great Depression was lowered due to the fact that people worked for government aid, being productive with their time, not because they received free assistance for doing nothing.
God created us to work and be productive stewards of His world. Never one to mince words, the Apostle Paul puts it plainly in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 by stating that if a person does not work, he should not eat. The Message Bible takes it a step further calling these people “lazy, good-for-nothings taking advantage of you. This must not be tolerated.” These people are then told to get jobs immediately, with no excuses or arguments, earning their own keep.
We should care for those who need our help, showing God’s love. And we must require those who can work and contribute to do so, or not expect their needs to be met through the hard work of someone else.
Paul certainly had a way with words. I agree that if somebody is able-bodied they should be working, or actively pursuing work. I would think people would want to have some meaningful type of activity in their life. I guess this just makes me wonder what this country is coming to when so many people are depending on handouts when they could be contributing more to society. They are not just robbing the taxpayers, but they are robbing themselves of the dignity they would find in pursuing meaningful work.
Good post and well said everyone who is able to work should and help those
who are not able to.God commanded this through Paul in 2 Thessalonians 3:10
as stated above in the article.
I have felt right along that there should be no free lunches for any able-bodied person who chooses to do little to nothing but receive hand outs by our social agencies off the blood and sweat of those who work and pay taxes.
When this subject comes up, I wonder why there aren’t programs in place by these agencies that correspond with local businesses who are in need of temporary help whereby these people in the system have to report to these job sites and earn the right to receive any assistance from these social agencies.
For instance, I heard that there are farmers in certain parts of the country who need help but can’t find enough people to get the job done. This is just a good starting place to put these welfare recipients into action in order to collect any assistance whatsoever. Even doing community help works for me. Just reporting for any type of duty necessary that is set up in order to give back makes sense.