Of Those Who Injure or Take Advantage of Us
"The brothers should offer no resistance to injury (cf. Mt 5:39); indeed if someone slaps them on the cheek, they should offer the other as well (cf. Mt 5:39; Lk 6:29). And if one should take their cloak, let them not hang on to their tunic. Let them give to everyone who begs of them; and let them not seek to retrieve what someone takes away from them (cf. Lk 6:30)." --St. Francis, Rule of 1221, Chapter XIV
You may wonder how this is reconciled with good stewardship. . . .at least, that has been my excuse to be cautious about giving to anyone that begs, whether it be money or some other request. I cannot believe we are to give of our time to the point of burning ourselves out, for instance. So the real issue is our motive for helping. If it's for the Lord, then He will provide what we need and won't give us more than we can handle. Rather than worry about who to help, how much to give, or whether the person "deserves" to be helped in the first place, we need to give all of ourselves to God. He will sort it out.
"The brothers should offer no resistance to injury (cf. Mt 5:39); indeed if someone slaps them on the cheek, they should offer the other as well (cf. Mt 5:39; Lk 6:29). And if one should take their cloak, let them not hang on to their tunic. Let them give to everyone who begs of them; and let them not seek to retrieve what someone takes away from them (cf. Lk 6:30)." --St. Francis, Rule of 1221, Chapter XIV
You may wonder how this is reconciled with good stewardship. . . .at least, that has been my excuse to be cautious about giving to anyone that begs, whether it be money or some other request. I cannot believe we are to give of our time to the point of burning ourselves out, for instance. So the real issue is our motive for helping. If it's for the Lord, then He will provide what we need and won't give us more than we can handle. Rather than worry about who to help, how much to give, or whether the person "deserves" to be helped in the first place, we need to give all of ourselves to God. He will sort it out.
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