Should we help the poor? Yes, there are plenty of passages in the Old and New Testaments telling us to do so. However, sometimes we have to choose between works, deciding not to do one that we may do another, such as when a woman anointed the head of Jesus, and His disciples complained, saying that the expensive ointment could have been sold, and the proceeds given to the poor,

But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her” (Matthew 26.10–13).

We will never remove the problem of poverty, but that does not mean we should not help the poor. However, some opportunities for doing good works are temporary, and we must do those lest we miss a chance to do a good work.