As Disciples of Jesus Christ We Must Care for the Poor and Needy

• Leviticus 19:14

• Job 29:15

• Matthew 15:29–31

• Luke 4:16–21

• Luke 14:12–14

• Hebrews 12:12–13

• Mosiah 18:8–9

• Mosiah 23:18

• 3 Nephi 17:7

“What good does it do to save the world if we neglect the needs of those closest to us and those whom we love the most? How much value is there in fixing the world if the people around us are falling apart and we don’t notice? Heavenly Father may have placed those who need us closest to us, knowing that we are best suited to meet their needs” (Bonnie L. Oscarson, “The Needs before Us,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2017, 26).

“I now realize that in the Church, to effectively serve others we must see them through a parent’s eyes, through Heavenly Father’s eyes. Only then can we begin to comprehend the true worth of a soul. Only then can we sense the love that Heavenly Father has for all of His children. Only then can we sense the Savior’s caring concern for them. We cannot completely fulfill our covenant obligation to mourn with those who mourn and comfort those who stand in need of comfort unless we see them through God’s eyes” (Dale G. Renlund, “Through God’s Eyes,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2015, 94).

“You will pray to know whom the Father would have you serve out of love for Him and for our Savior” (Henry B. Eyring, “Trust in the Spirit Which Leadeth to Do Good,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2016, 18).

“We must look after the individual. Christ always spoke of individuals. He healed the sick, individually. He spoke in His parables of individuals. This Church is concerned with individuals, notwithstanding our numbers. Whether they be 6 or 10 or 12 or 50 million, we must never lose sight of the fact that the individual is the important thing” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Gordon B. Hinckley [2016], 298).

“Thus the Savior made the first public announcement of His messianic ministry. But this verse also made clear that on the way to His ultimate atoning sacrifice and Resurrection, Jesus’s first and foremost messianic duty would be to bless the poor, including the poor in spirit.

“From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus loved the impoverished and the disadvantaged in an extraordinary way. He was born into the home of two of them and grew up among many more of them. We don’t know all the details of His temporal life, but He once said, ‘Foxes have holes, and … birds … have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head’ (Matthew 8:20). Apparently the Creator of heaven and earth ‘and all things that in them are’ (2 Nephi 2:14; 2 Nephi 9:15) was, at least in His adult life, homeless” (Jeffrey R. Holland, “Are We Not All Beggars?” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2014, 40).