John Locke, Paul, and Labor
John Locke's labor theory of property posits that individuals have an unquestionable property right in their own person and, by extension, their labor. This means that no one else is automatically or inherently entitled to the fruits of another person's work.
In his Second Treatise of Government, Locke argues:
"every Man has a Property in his own Person; This no Body has any Right to but himself. The Labour of his Body, and the Work of his Hands, we may say, are properly his".
When a person "mixes" their labor with natural resources, those resources become their property because they have annexed something of their own (their labor) to it, thereby "exclud[ing] the common right of other Men".
Locke makes it clear that to meddle with what has been improved by another's labor is to desire "the benefit of another's pains, which he had no right to".
This philosophy emphasizes self-ownership and individual rights to the results of one's own industry, forming a foundational argument for private property rights and limited government. The only major condition Locke placed on initial property acquisition was the "Lockean Proviso," which states that an individual could appropriate natural resources as long as "there is enough, and as good, left in common for others".
Combined with scripture:
“Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.”
Exodus 20:9-10 NKJV
“But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.”
II Thessalonians 3:6-12 NKJV
Thus, we see, both from creation and the natural law to the special revelation of scripture that man is to work for his bread. Welfare was meant to supplement those in need for a time, but has been exploited, as well as enabled those who would use it as a crutch to avoid the labors of life, while utilizing the labors of others to provide for those who can’t (or won’t) do so themselves. Remember, forced charity is not charity. In other words, “this is why we can’t have nice things.” If we’re going to keep programs like welfare, they need a major overhaul and better oversight.