I have always been a believer in the saying, "God helps those who help themselves." Will we find this in the Bible? No, not really. What the Bible says is in Psalm 94:17-19, "Unless the Lord had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death. When I said, 'My foot is slipping,' your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy." Basically, God will give you a "hand up" not a handout. But the roots of this thought might be traced back to an ancient Greek dramatist, Euripides, who wrote a tragedy, in 428 BC, called "Hippolytus": "Try first thyself, and after call in God; For to the worker God himself lends aid."
Give others a hand up or a handout? This is a question which divides much of our country. To read more of this post, please follow the attached link: A Hand Up