The Bible Doesn't Say That

God Helps Those Who Help Themselves

When I was a child I learned all sorts of information that I later learned was not real. My grandmother told me that if I sang at the table it would rain the next day, that when a cow lays down it was going to rain, or that when the crescent moon is lit on the bottom it is holding the water and we won’t have rain. My grandmother had a lot of theories on the rain.

My teachers told me that Columbus discovered America…then later told me that it was actually Amerigo Vespucci because Columbus only discovered the Caribbean…then I was told that Leif Erickson actually discovered America about 500 years before Columbus only to learn later that the Native Americans came from Northeast Asia about 13,000 years ago.

I was also told that George Washington never told a lie and that he threw a silver dollar across the Potomac River. However, the Potomac River is about a mile wide. So much for his never telling a lie.

There are many other things that I have since learned were not the truth. Perhaps all of these lies have made me a bit cynical, but I have learned that I must research everything that I am told or read to discover whether or not it is true. Just because someone posts it on the Internet doesn’t mean it is true.

Because of the constant outright lies that people share online, even our news media have become tricked into believing lies. Now we hear the cry of Fake News whenever something is reported that contradicts what someone else has claimed. How do we discover the truth anymore?

Even pastors have been guilty of passing down false information about God and the Bible. And it often requires generations to fix the fallacies of these pastors. Some pastors taught that black people were cursed by God. They claim that all black people came from Noah’s son Ham and that Noah cursed him. This was mainly done as a way to justify slavery. However, there is no biblical basis for this claim. Noah did not curse Ham, but the Canaanites and there is no mention in the Bible about the color of skin of Ham or the Canaanites. Those who believe this nonsense are just racists.

As we begin this new series, Things the Bible Doesn’t Say, we will focus on five modern teachings people believe that are not found in the Bible or verses that have been misconstrued or taken out of context to fit their own biases or agenda.

²⁵ “This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? ²⁷ Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? ²⁸ And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! ³⁰ If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you—you of little faith? ³¹ So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ ³² For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. (Matthew 6:25-33)

We begin our study by looking at the saying that God helps those that help themselves. You may have heard this phrase or even used it, but it is never once found in scripture. It was the English political theorist Algernon Sidney who first printed the phrase, “God helps those who help themselves.” Benjamin Franklin later used it in his Poor Richard's Almanack (1736) and it has been widely quoted ever since.

The idea is that a godly person does not just wait for others to provide for them. Rather than stand around begging for others to help, they should start doing things to help themselves and then God will provide for them. The phrase was formed from ideas that were first shared in Greek tragedies about God helping those that attempt something and from the Qur’ran (13:11) where it says, “Indeed Allah will not change the conditions of a population until they change what is in themselves.”

But what does the Bible say?

Don’t Worry About Your Life

The Bible is consistent in its teachings that we are not to focus on ourselves. When we focus on self, we become selfish. Focusing on self is what this phrase is all about. If you want God to help you, you have to help yourself. But the Bible tells us to focus on God.

Jesus is reminding people that God provides for the needs of the birds. They don’t do anything on their own to create food for themselves, yet plenty of food has been provided by God for them. Jesus told us that the flowers do nothing to clothe themselves, yet God provided them with a beauty that is far beyond anything manmade.

God doesn’t want us to focus on our own needs, our own wants, our own desires. Instead, He wants us to focus on Him and see just how much He has done and continues to do for us and for others.

Seek the Kingdom of God

The phrase “God helps those that help themselves” has been used as a means to motivate people seek out ways to create wealth for themselves. With money, they can buy food and drink and clothes. With money they can enjoy the best of life. We tell people that in America anyone can make it if they just have enough drive and ambition to make something of themselves.

The Bible never says that having money is evil, but it does tell us that the love of money is the root of all evil. Why? Because when are focus is on making money and getting things, we are focused on self. We can lie to ourselves and say that we are doing it to provide for the needs of our family, but the reality is that most of us have more than enough to care for our family. Our family doesn’t need all of these extra little luxuries. We have those because we like to pamper ourselves.

Instead, the Bible tells us to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Instead of seeking to satisfy self, we should seek to satisfy God. What does that include? Loving God and loving others. Focusing on doing the will of God. Focusing on becoming more like Jesus. Focusing on bringing others to God. Seeking the kingdom of God means that we are not wasting our time trying to find more ways to entertain ourselves. We are not trying to constantly stuff our bodies with food. We are not trying to find new ways to help us relax and chill. We are not so concerned with ourselves that we forget about the many others out there that need for us to show them the love of God.

All These Things Will Be Provided for You

Jesus said that when our focus is on seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, God will provide for our needs…just as He does for the birds and the flowers. When our focus is on doing the will of God, we won’t need to worry about taking care of ourselves.

This doesn’t mean that God expects us to abandon our responsibilities. God isn’t saying that we can just quit our jobs and let others take care of us. God doesn’t expect you to just sit around all day waiting for a check in the mail that will pay for your electricity, your water, your food, your clothes, your medicine, etc. God was not telling us that He would use the government to provide for all of our needs if we just sit around all day reading the Bible, praying, and telling others about Jesus.

God expects us to work for our food. Paul explains this in 2 Thessalonians:

⁷ For you yourselves know how you must imitate us: We were not irresponsible among you; ⁸ we did not eat anyone’s food free of charge; instead, we labored and struggled, working night and day, so that we would not be a burden to any of you. ⁹ It is not that we don’t have the right to support, but we did it to make ourselves an example to you so that you would imitate us. ¹⁰ In fact, when we were with you, this is what we commanded you: “If anyone isn’t willing to work, he should not eat.” ¹¹ For we hear that there are some among you who walk irresponsibly, not working at all, but interfering with the work of others. ¹² Now we command and exhort such people by the Lord Jesus Christ that quietly working, they may eat their own food. ¹³ Brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. (2 Thessalonians 3:7-13, HCSB)

But God doesn’t want us to become so selfish that we only care about taking care of ourselves rather than doing good. What does doing good mean? It means doing the things that God has commanded us to do. Remember, those commands can be boiled down to: love God and love others. When we focus all of our time and attention on loving God and loving others, we don’t have time to be selfish.