Member-only story
God Helps Those Who Help Themselves
Why you can’t use this to justify a lack of compassion
Have you ever heard the phrase “God helps those who help themselves”? This is often believed to be in the Bible. But… it’s not! It’s not Biblical at all. This saying was originally coined by Benjamin Franklin.
Today, many people use the phrase to, for example, justify not giving money to the homeless.
“God helps those who help themselves,” they’ll say, feeling righteous. “If they are hungry, why don’t they get a job?”
Some of them are Christians, and because they falsely believe the phrase is in the Bible, that helps them to avoid giving to those in need. “After all,” some may say. “They’ll just use any money I give them on booze or drugs.”
Unfortunately, that does sometimes happen, but do the hard-hearted ever wonder why?
What does it actually say in the Bible
The phrase is never actually mentioned in the Bible. It contradicts many verses that are actually Biblical.
