Matthew 5:42 and Luke 6:30 are direct commands: give to the one who asks. Why 2 Thessalonians 3:10 and 2 Corinthians 9:7 do not give you permission to refuse.
Jesus commands in Matthew 5:42 and Luke 6:30 to give to the one who begs from you. These are not suggestions — they are direct commands from the Son of God.
The command to give to those who ask is often treated by believers as a mere suggestion, subject to our own vetting processes and cultural filters. Jesus says in Matthew 5:42, “Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.” (Matthew 5:42 KJV) Luke 6:30 echoes this absolute mandate: “Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.” (Luke 6:30 KJV) These are not parables or hyperbole; they are direct commands from the Son of God. Yet, people spend their lives constructing elaborate, clever arguments to avoid obeying them. They hide behind the “times” and “culture,” arguing that Jesus couldn’t have possibly meant for us to give to someone who might misuse the money. They twist Paul’s instruction in 2 Thessalonians 3:10—“If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat”—as a license to withhold charity from the needy, effectively turning a command meant to encourage diligence into a weapon to justify their own stinginess. They cite “not giving under compulsion” from 2 Corinthians 9:7, not to encourage a cheerful heart in giving, but as a convenient escape hatch to avoid giving at all. Everything becomes an excuse to judge the recipient rather than examine the heart of the giver.
People are terrified that if they actually obeyed Christ, they might lose their own security or be taken advantage of. But Scripture does not offer a loophole for your skepticism. Jesus gave the command without adding a list of exceptions for the “undeserving.” If you are more concerned with vetting the recipient’s worthiness than you are with keeping your Savior’s command, you are not exercising wisdom—you are exercising control. God is looking at your heart. Does it move with compassion, or does it harden with excuses? Stop trying to negotiate with the King about sound doctrine and simply keep the command.
Luke 6:30 KJV“Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?”
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Read every Scripture quote in your chosen translation (WEB, KJV, Geneva, YLT, and more) at https://www.thelivingsword.org/sound-doctrine/giving-to-those-who-ask
All 26 sound doctrine essays: Sound Doctrine — The Living Sword