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How to Meet the Moral Challenge of Being PoorThe Watchtower—1990 | November 15
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Today, most of the world’s poor are victims of circumstances beyond their control—perhaps lack of education, failing local economies, or political upheaval. Many toil from early in the morning to late at night and barely eke out a living. Opportunities to gain financially through dishonest means may thus seem attractive, even necessary. Why, some might reason that the Bible justifies an occasional moral lapse! After all, it does say: “People do not despise a thief just because he commits thievery to fill his soul when he is hungry.” And a wise man prayed: ‘May I not come to poverty and actually steal.’—Proverbs 6:30; 30:8, 9.
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How to Meet the Moral Challenge of Being PoorThe Watchtower—1990 | November 15
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But what of the wise man’s prayer? He asked that he might not come to poverty and “actually steal and assail the name of [his] God.” (Proverbs 30:9) Yes, dishonesty on the part of a person professing to serve Jehovah can bring reproach on God’s name and on the congregation of His people. The apostle Paul wrote: “You, the one preaching ‘Do not steal,’ do you steal?” If some professed Christians did steal, this could cause ‘the name of God to be blasphemed among the nations.’—Romans 2:21, 24.
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