Do Not Withhold Good, No Excuses!

"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in the power of your hand to do so." - Proverbs 3:27

This scripture stood out to me when I was reading this chapter. It made me think if there are any times that I withhold good when I have the power to give it. Sometimes we think that as long as we don't do anything to hurt someone or don't do anything bad then we are okay. Here in Proverbs it's not only about not doing something bad towards people but it's also wrong to withhold good.

I specifically started thinking about the people begging on the side of the road. How often do we drive by them and turn our heads when we have some extra change sitting in our car? I know all of the excuses:

They're going to spend it on booze, they're just cons trying to get money out of me, I don't have the time to stop. etc.

But we don't read "Do not withhold good from those it is due unless you can think of a good excuse against it". It simply tells us to not withhold good from those it is due. So the one thing that could be asked is: "who is it due?" You might be thinking, if they spend it on booze doesn't that mean it's not due to them? But let me turn the question around.

Who did Jesus decide good was due to?

Did Jesus pick anybody out and say, "Well you are not going to use my grace for what it's intended so I'm not going to give it to you"? If He didn't, then what gives us that right? Jesus actually knew exactly who would use His grace correctly and who would abuse it and He offered it to all regardless. We think we know how someone is going to use our money and we decide we have the right to withhold it. To me there is something wrong with that picture. As Christians we are to strive to be Christ-like. If Christ didn't make excuses in His generosity then I don't feel we Christians should either.