Grace And Welfare

SAT., FEB. 26, 1983, 6:52 AM
FT. WORTH, HILTON

Discipline of the mind is certainly not one of your great virtues/accomplishments, o son of Mine, but this morning I have decided to use one of these scattered thoughts as the basis of Our meditation. So the question might well be raised, “if grace is so good, why isn’t welfare equally good.” At least We’ll start with this.

Grace is forgiveness, acceptance, and love, freely given, even to those who do not “deserve it”. Welfare is money or services or food given to certain members of a society, without any work or service being required in exchange. The principle seems to be the same, and yet Christians who feel good about grace may be quite reluctant about or even opposed to welfare.

Actually, this last observation is not quite true. Most Christians who are strongly against giving more welfare and who want more enforcement to keep out the “cheats”… and who want recipients to do some work in exchange for what they receive, have similar internal feelings about grace. They feel that they “deserve” grace because of their rather “clean” lives and their commitment to the church, and they’re typically a bit uneasy about “cheap grace”, which would be My offering forgiveness and acceptance to one who is not leading a good, “clean” life.

In contrast, those who have truly accepted My grace, who feel “forgiven” of sins, even such as pride and self-worth, usually do not oppose welfare in principle. You accept grace rather well, and your reluctance about welfare or about giving money to people yourself is mostly related to there not being enough to do this, rather than on principle.

The point of difference is one I have taught you before… that while grace is freely given, only a relative few are spiritually developed enough to accept it in the same freedom and give of themselves to Me and to others in return. I do not withhold grace from those who flounder, accepting My forgiveness but not responding to others as I have to them. Withholding love is not the way to engender love in others. I remain the giver, despite the response of she who receives.

In principle, welfare is the same. Money for the necessities of life are given, with the hope that those who receive might give back, whatever they can, to society, even if this is just loving existence. Maggie accepts welfare, and she gives of herself and her talents in several ways, the most important of which is being a loving mother and teacher for her three little ones. You see in their behavior and in their being that they have such daily life experiences. Even in their young, inexperienced ways they show a willingness to give back to others rather than being solely takers. Yet consider that they, too, may be more spiritually advanced than some who show more selfishness.

Welfare is a good word and a positive concept. Some who have the most concern about “what ‘they’ are doing with their money” need to realize that their main concern should be with their own spirit of giving. If one is not able to give to others, then that one is less able to receive, from others and from Me. And in such a condition spirit does not grow… and may even regress. Give, that others might have what they wouldn’t have otherwise.