I was listening to an audio clip from a few weeks ago and Chuck Swindoll said that “the most quoted bible verse that is not actually anywhere in the bible is ‘God helps those who help themselves’.”
It got me thinking because there have been a few times that people have suggested to me that very thing and indeed claimed that it was in the bible.
It always resonated poorly with me, but I never realized why. I am not sure why I didn’t go looking for it either.
I also found a couple of verses that debunk this fake “verse” and can be seen as being unbiblical in its meaning.
Jer 17:5 (NIV) This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.”
Prov 28:26 (NIV) He who trusts in himself is a fool.
woo hoo! Now I can be lazy and if anything goes wrong I’ll just blame it on God.
o if it was only that easy!
Hmmm, Interesting – I always thought that phrase loosely referred to the verses that talk about doing what God has “assigned” for you and that you really aren’y doing it alone –
Learned something new today – thanks!