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CAREGIVER

Loving God By Loving Others

Character Traits

  • Caring for others is a prophetic activity. Self-centered creatures that we are, being concerned about others is an unnatural response and provides evidence of a supernatural touch by God.

  • The parable of the Good Samaritan reminds us that attending to ‘spiritual concerns’ is no excuse for refusing to get our hands dirty.

  • “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” 1 John 3:17

  • The writers of the NT leave us without any doubt as to the importance of loving God by loving those he made.

  • “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:4

  • “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you helped his people and continue to help them.” Hebrews 6:10

  • “Pure and faultless’ religion is looking after orphans and widows in their distress. James 1:27

What Are Our Pitfalls?

 

Judging

Remember the lesson of Martha & Mary. Caregiving is not a license to judge others who serve God in different ways. True, all Christians are called to care for others, but there are different ways this obligation can be fulfilled, and it is not for us to judge the validity of someone else’s worship.

Serving Ourselves Through Serving Others

Some people with esteem problems feel a need to serve others for self-validation. When caregiving becomes an act of taking, an act of deception, it is done so others will love or need them in return.

Neglecting Those Closest to Us

In our zeal to love others, we must remember that God makes home the priority. See 1 Timothy 5:8 Don’t neglect your family while you save the world.

Suggestions for the Road

 

The caregiver temperament incorporates many different avenues of loving God through serving others:

  • Nursing sick people
  • Visiting the elderly
  • Volunteer rescue unit
  • Repairing a house
  • “adopting” a prisoner
  • Helping a friend through a personal crisis
  • Lending money
  • Help someone battle substance abuse
  • Helping an illiterate person learn to read
  • Donating time at a battered women’s shelter
  • Counseling at a pregnancy care center
  • Working in a soup kitchen
  • Fixing somebody’s car
  • Making recordings for the blind
  • Researching a cure for a disease
  • Helping somebody reconfigure their computer
  • Watching the children of some tired parents
  • Giving free cookies out on campus
  • Raking leaves of elderly
  • Providing free firewood for needy
  • Shovel snow
  • Remove trash from dorm rooms on your floor

Want to learn even more?

 

Explore all the different ways people can connect to God and discover the value of each and every path.