James 1:27 Amplified Bible (AMP)
27 Pure and unblemished religion [as it is expressed in outward acts] in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit and look after the fatherless and the widows in their distress, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the [secular] world.
One of the things that we as believers are expected to do is to take care of the widows and look after the fatherless or the orphans as other versions of the bible put it. One thing that comes out so clearly throughout the whole bible is that the widow and the orphan have a special place in Gods heart.
Exodus 22:21-24 Amplified Bible (AMP)
21 “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 22 You shall not harm or oppress any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you harm or oppress them in any way, and they cry at all to Me [for help], I will most certainly hear their cry; 24 and My wrath shall be kindled and burn; I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
One of the first ministries we see being set up when the church begun in the book of Acts 6 is a ministry that took care of widows.
In the book of 1 Timothy Paul tells Timothy to honor widows who are truly widows. What does this mean? Paul is talking about women who lost their husbands and not only that, but because the husband was the provider and now they are gone, then the true widow has no means of financial support.
As the church of Jesus Christ we have the mandate of taking care of the widow and the orphan. Many times we feel that once we have given of our finances in Church then we have done our bit but that’s not true we need to start allowing God to use us to be a blessing to other members of the congregation and community and widows and orphans are first on the list.
