Why Welfare Programs Will NEVER "Work"

If a government gives some sort of material aid to persons "less fortunate" in hopes that the recipient will somehow turn out alright in the end, generally speaking it will not work. A long-term improvement in someone's life requires a fundamental shift in the mentality that got them so low they needed public assistance in the first place.

Along with material aid, there is an additional requirement: righteousness.

If someone does not have the proper mental outlook, no amount of "give a man a fish" will result in "he'll eat forever." You have to Do The Right Thing for yourself financially, because you are right-thinking. Doing the right thing = righteousness.

This is a biblical precept.

"Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly"

If the government agents giving away money were bible-believing, they would understand that social welfare programs are only "give a man a fish." Without a Christian outreach, giving -even out of charity- by private organizations and individuals also will not help much.

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Once upon a time, my pastor led a church in a bad part of Houston. He mentioned once that there were no rich people in his church. People would come broke like all their neighbors, get saved, straighten out their lives and finances, and move uptown and go to another church.

You can get out of the ghetto. Hanging from the government teat will not do it for you. Becoming a Christian might.

Now you are really pushing it. How does becoming a Christian make you not-poor?

Because the person who was poor, was poor by choice whether they realized it or not. Nobody put a gun to your head and forced you to make terrible economic decisions driven by your own lusts. If you will abandon selfish, desire-driven activities and follow the advice a credit counselor would give, you would end up in much better financial condition. To do that, you need to be a new person, literally. Only becoming a Christian will make you a new person every time.

Other ways will work, sure. But nothing is as reliable as God. This is why private charities actually work to get people straight, while the governments efforts are continually plagued by lack of effectiveness and budget shortfalls.