:
evil people by benefiting them indirectly through our warnings, corrective action,
punishments, and therefore efforts to improve them. (True Christianity 406-7)
To understand a person’s true character we need to look at his intentions.
New Church teachings tell us:
The wise do not look at a person’s works, but at the life that is in the works, that is, at
the intention. (Apocalypse Explained 185)
The angels regard everyone in the light of his purpose, intention or end, and make
distinctions accordingly; and they therefore excuse or condemn those whom the
end excuses or condemns. (Married Love 453)
The first step in looking at others’ intentions might be to determine
whether their intentions go in a good or bad direction. But when we think
carefully about the needs of others we can see more specifically how to help
them. In ancient times they thought about people’s spiritual needs in terms of
physical needs. As we read in our lesson, they called some people poor, others
wretched and afflicted, or bound and in prison, blind and lame, strangers,
orphans and widows. In the most general sense, they used the six categories
that the Lord used in speaking of the sheep and goats: the hungry, thirsty,
strangers, naked, sick and in prison.
These six physical needs address major world problems. There are about a
billion hungry people who do not have enough food today; about a billion who
do not have clean water to drink; millions of strangers—refugees, immigrants
and homeless people; millions who have inadequate clothing and healthcare;
and the millions who are in prison, slavery, or suffering under oppressive
regimes. We should, and we can, work to address these world problems both
by helping those who are in need close to home, and by contributing to global
efforts. Yet doing no more than giving or sending food, clothing, medicine
or money is a superficial and temporary solution at best. This is because the
root of our problems is on a spiritual level. For example, there is enough food
in the world to feed every hungry person, but political corruption and war
make it very difficult to get food to the people who need it, and even if we
could get food to every hungry person another war or another drought in
another month or year will bring the famine back again. Real and permanent
good comes when we help people not only physically, but spiritually, when we
improve not only their worldly life, but their eternal life.
The internal part of good will and compassion is to clearly discern who and of what
character are those to whom we do good, and in what way to each one. People who
finally reach an internal purpose of goodwill and compassion know that this very
internal purpose is to will well and do good to the internal person with the kinds of
things that serve their spiritual life. And the external consists in doing good to the
external person, with the kinds of things that serve to the bodily life; but still, this
must always be done carefully so that while we do good to the external person, we
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