God helps those who help themselves

G

God helps those who help themselves

Meaning

  • to be able to come out of a bad situation by self-help rather than hoping for divine intervention
  • to be able to help one’s own self
  • to make a plan to help your own self out of a situation

Example Sentences

  1. The businessman refused to help you this time because he realized that you run to him every time you have the slightest difficulty. Please remember that he has a business to run and God helps only those who help themselves.
  2. I am not saying that I will not help you out from this mess, I’m just saying that you must try to do something for yourself first because God helps those who help themselves.
  3. You better start preparing for the test because God helps those who help themselves.
  4. In my career I’ve seen that God helps those who help themselves.
  5. She is in this spot because she never stood up for herself. God helps those who help themselves

Origin

The phrase comes from the fact that one must not rely solely on a divine intervention every time in need. It is up to people to take matters in their own hands and solve their own problems for the fact that God has already equipped human beings with every way to be able to help themselves. So when one is doing something to solve their own problems, it is actually God that is helping them. The phrase is ancient in origin but a literary source could not could not be traced reliably.

Synonyms

  • self-help is the best help

Share your opinions3 Opinions

We need to delete this terminology from our language as it is not Biblical.

‒ Peter April 30, 2023

@Matthew,
We are thankful of you for sharing precious origin information about this idiom.

The Idioms Team

‒ TheIdioms.com November 3, 2017

I think this idiom may have come from Aesop’s “Hercules and the Waggoner”, which ends saying, “The gods help them that help themselves.”

‒ Matthew Kiehl November 2, 2017

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