Care for the Hurting

Pastor Gary Oser

I have been sharing some questions with you over the last few months to help diagnose your spiritual health. These questions come from a book written by Donald Whitney entitled, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health. The question I want to share with you this month is: “Do you have a growing concern for the spiritual and temporal concerns of others?”

The Word of God (the Bible) makes it very clear that there is a relationship between loving God and caring about others. I will share just a few of many verses which emphasize this.

First John 3:17-18 says, “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

James 2:15-17 adds, “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead being by itself.”

Finally, 1 John 4:11 says simply, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”

When we genuinely love God, that love will spill over to others who are in need. Do you realize that many orphanages, hospitals, homes for unwed mothers, etc. have been established by Christians? We recognize Charles Spurgeon as a great preacher, but did you know that he built more than 17 homes for elderly widows? We recognize William Carey as the father of modern missions, but did you know he was responsible for outlawing widow burning in India?

Spiritual health is measured not only by our love for God, but also in our love and care for others. In our country’s present situation with out-of-control inflation, there are a lot of hurting people around us. With the war in Ukraine, there are millions of displaced people who have lost everything. What can you do in a practical way to help people who are hurting, both in your sphere of influence and around the world?

Ask God to help you see the needs He wants you to help meet. Spiritually healthy people care about hurting people and want to try to help them.