21 Bible Verses about Benevolence

If anyone, whoever he may be, keeps on begging you, give to him; if anyone wants to borrow from you, do not turn him away.

Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come back here and follow me."

For when I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, when I was thirsty you gave me something to drink, when I was a stranger you welcomed me to your homes, when I needed clothes you put them on me, when I was sick you looked after me, when I was in prison you came to see me.' Then the upright will answer, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and give you something to eat, or thirsty, and give you something to drink?read more.
When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you to our homes, or needing clothes, and put them on you? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and come to see you?' And the King will answer them, 'I solemnly say to you, every time you did a good deed to one of these most insignificant brothers of mine, you did a good deed to me.' "Then He will say to those at His left, 'Be gone from me, you who are now cursed, to the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For when I was hungry you gave me nothing to eat, when I was thirsty you gave me nothing to drink, when I was a stranger you did not welcome me to your homes, when I needed clothes you did not put them on me, when I was sick and in prison, you did not look after me.' Then they will answer, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or needing clothes, or sick, or in prison, and did not wait on you?' Then He will answer, 'I solemnly say to you, every time you failed to do a good deed to one of these most insignificant people, you failed to do a good deed to me.'

"For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink, on the ground that you belong to Christ, I solemnly say to you, he will not fail to get his reward.

He answered them, "The man who has two shirts must share with him who has none, and the man who has food must do the same."

But a Samaritan, while on a journey, came down to him, and when he saw him, his heart was moved with pity for him. So he went to him and dressed his wounds by pouring oil and wine upon them, and then he put him on his donkey and brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out a half dollar and handed it to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him, and on my way back I will repay you.'

But dedicate once for all your inner self, and at once you will have everything clean.

Then Zaccheus got up and said to the Lord, "Listen, Lord! I now give to the poor half of my property, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay him back four times as much."

And all the believers lived together and held all they had as common goods to be shared by one another. And so they continued to sell their property and goods and to distribute the money to all, as anyone had special need. Day after day they regularly attended the temple; they practiced breaking their bread together in their homes, and eating their food with glad and simple hearts,

Now there was but one heart and soul in the vast number of those who had become believers, and not one of them claimed that anything that he had was his own, but they shared everything that they had as common property. So with great power the apostles continued to give their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God's favor rested richly on them all. For none of them was in want, for as many of them as were owners of farms or houses proceeded to sell them, one by one, and continued to bring the money received for the things soldread more.
and to put it at the disposal of the apostles; then distribution was continuously made to everyone in proportion to his need. Now Joseph, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, who by the apostles was named Barnabas, which means Son of Encouragement, sold the farm he had and brought the money and put it at the disposal of the apostles.

In those days, as the number of the disciples was increasing, complaint was made by the Greek-speaking Jews against the native Jews that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.

At Joppa there was a woman, a disciple, whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek means Dorcas, that is, Gazelle. She had filled her life with good deeds and works of charity, which she was always doing. Just at that time it happened that she had been taken ill and had died. They washed her body and laid her out in a room upstairs. As Joppa was near Lydda, the disciples heard that Peter was there, and sent two men to him, begging him to come to them without delay.read more.
So Peter at once got up and went with them. When he reached there, they took him to the room upstairs, and all the widows took their stand around him, crying and showing him the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

a religious man, too, who revered God with all his household, who was always liberal in his many deeds of charity to the people, and who had the habit of praying to God.

He stared at him and in terror asked, "What is it, sir?" The angel answered him, "Your prayers and your deeds of charity have gone up and been remembered before God.

So the disciples decided to send a contribution, each in proportion to his prosperity, to help the brothers who lived in Judea.

For Macedonia and Greece were delighted to make a contribution to the poor among God's people in Jerusalem. They certainly were delighted to do it, and they really are under obligation to them, for if the heathen peoples have shared in their spiritual blessings, they ought to serve them in material blessings.

If I should dole out everything I have for charity, and give my body up to torture in mere boasting pride, but have no love, I get from it no good at all.

Now about the contribution for God's people, I want you to do as I directed the churches of Galatia to do. On the first day of every week each of you must put aside and store up something in proportion as he is prospered, so that no contributions need be made when I come back. When I get there, I will send on, with credentials, the persons whom you approve, to carry your gift of charity to Jerusalem.

Now I am going to tell you, brothers, of God's spiritual blessing which was given in the churches of Macedonia, because in spite of a terrible test of trouble, the mighty flood of their gladness mingling with the depths of their poverty has overflowed and resulted in the abundance of their liberality. For they have given, I can testify, to the utmost of their ability, and even beyond their ability. Of their own accord,read more.
with earnest entreaty, they kept on begging me for the favor of sharing in this service that is being rendered to God's people. They did not do as I expected but even more; they first by God's will gave themselves to the Lord, and then to me; so that I insisted that Titus, as he had formerly commenced it, should bring to completion this gracious contribution among you too. Yes, just as you are growing rich in everything else, in faith, expression, knowledge, perfect enthusiasm, and the love inspired in you by us, you must see to it that you grow rich in this gracious contribution too. I am not saying this in the spirit of a command, but I am simply trying to test the genuineness of your love by the enthusiasm of others. For by experience you know the unmerited favor shown by our Lord Jesus Christ; that although He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, in order that by His poverty you might become rich. Now I will give you my opinion on this matter. For this is for your interest, because you were not only the first to do anything about it, but the first to want to do so; you started it a year ago. Now finish doing it too, so that your readiness to finish it may be just like your readiness to start it, in accordance with what you have. If a man is ready and willing to give, his gift is acceptable in accordance with what he has, not with what he does not have. For I do not want it to be a relief for others and a burden on you, but through an equalizing of matters in the present crisis I do want your abundance to relieve their need, that some day their abundance may relieve your need, so that equality may exist -- just as the Scripture says, "The man who gathered much did not have too much, and the man who gathered little did not have too little."

So you must furnish them, before all the churches, proof of your love and ground for my praising you so highly.

It is really superfluous for me to write to you about this service which is being rendered to God's people,