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1 Timothy 6:

6 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

By the Apostle Paul

When the Apostle Paul wrote the above Bible verse, he never referred to shelter or housing as something which would cause contentment. But in Matthew 25:34-35, it is stated that, "Then the King will say to those at His right, 'Come, my Father's blessed ones, receive your inheritance of the Kingdom which has been divinely intended for you ever since the creation of the world. For when I was hungry, you gave me food; when I was thirsty, you gave me drink; when I was homeless, you gave me a welcome.'"   The humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow lists shelter and housing on the second level of his "hierarchy of needs", with the basics of food, water, and breathing on the first level. Only when the first basic levels, "the felt needs" or human needs, are met can a person then seek the higher goals of self-actualization.

The humanists feel that we are capable of certain things based on our own potentials, attempting to achieve the highest levels of wisdom and consciousness with individuals like Maslow describing the individual as a "self-actualizing person". The original basic needs level of his hierarchy involves those very same things that are equivalent in animals, both involving a very weak disposition which involves things like sex, breathing, comfortable body temperatures, food, water, excretions, etc. Poor people or those who are homeless find these basic levels difficult to achieve. Shelters and soup kitchens throughout the country offer at least one meal a day and as much shelter as can resources allow.

As we grow and move towards our goal of personal self-actualization, we become more and more influenced by society and our seeking on an instinctual level which only then will allow us to move toward the second level. Simply put, only when we are fed, warm and feel personally satisfied on a basic level will we then seek adequate shelter, i.e. if we are hungry and cold, those needs will always come first before we begin a search for adequate shelter, if not simultaneously. That is also the reason that deteriorating societies or nations will have high risk behavior, high pregnancy rates, and reduced health-care behavior in genocide conditions. But generally, shelter or housing is the basic starting point at which people become motivates to seek work, unable to achieve any form of success without food or shelter, or the basic needs satisfied.

Safety needs do not control our thoughts and behavior as do the basic physiological needs, but when the basic needs are satisfied, the second level of needing housing and shelter will automatically kick-in, becoming very active in our thoughts and desires.  As adults, we typically are unaware of the tremendous need for our personal securities or the security of housing and shelter as it has always been available to us, until we are left homeless due to a type of recession or depression in economy or when things like rioting or war will destroy not only housing and shelter, destroys opportunities for food and medical care, putting lives and security in jeopardy.

For people who are just starting out on any level of life, which can involve a young couple beginning a life together, young individuals leaving home, war-torn families getting back on their feet, or an improvement in economy---housing and shelter not only needs to be affordable but available at all costs---providing easy access to the seekers only after the basic needs are met first. Homeless advocates in the United States and many other countries are in the process of attempting to provide these needs to individuals already living on the streets and to the poor who cannot afford decent housing. Below are agencies to contact if you are in need or wish to help.

**** Image used is from Flickr's