Care

“Let Me care for My children and the work of My hands!” Isa. 45:11. [Norw.] There is a tremendously inclusive care in God’s love! And when we have partaken of God’s love, this care for one another will also be in our hearts!

The direct opposite of the care of a righteous person is found in a wicked and hardened heart. Prov. 12:10. In this way, having a care for one another will protect us from all kinds of schism and division. 1 Cor. 12:25.

Jesus cared deeply for His sheep, and we are familiar with the parable of the Good Shepherd where He made sure that all ninety-nine sheep were safely inside the sheepfold before He went out to search for the last, lost sheep.

May God give us grace so that we, as shepherds and mentors, have Jesus’ care for those we have been placed together with! The hidden life with Christ in God brings about a true care. For this reason, Paul was able to send Timothy to the Philippians. In a personal letter, he urged Timothy to be an example to the believers, especially in love, among other things. 1 Tim. 4:12. Living his life as an example of the love of Christ enabled Timothy to be a good servant of Christ Jesus. V. 6.

It can be easy to deal with our fellow human beings with a knowledge of what is right and wrong. In this way we come into a ministry that tears down—a dog ministry. But when we nourish ourselves with the good words of faith and follow them ourselves, we enter into the ministry of care that God has for His children. In this way, through our lives, we can be ambassadors for Christ, as Paul exhorts us, imploring others to be reconciled to God! 2 Cor. 5:20.

Many people, but especially young people, who have not yet been born again and established, need examples of care and love, ones who stand up for them! Perhaps they have said or done something that wasn’t wise. Perhaps they are expecting chastening and discipline. But then they meet you and me, someone who is an interpreter, perhaps one among a thousand, who can overlook what has been said and done and, instead, proclaim a better way. Then God will have mercy on him, so that he can pray to God, who will be gracious to him. He will see God’s face with joy, and God will restore his or her righteousness to them. Job 33:23-26.

Think to have this ministry as a mentor, mother, father, brother, or sister—to be an example in love! However, whether we have a visible ministry or not, we can stand up for someone we see in need of care and say, as Paul writes to Philemon: “Receive him, that is, my own heart, . . . put that on my account.”

This life is anchored in the mind of Christ, as Paul writes in 1 Cor. 9:19-23: “. . . I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more. . . . I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.”

Thus, through God’s care in the love of Christ for people, I have a rich opportunity to partake in the gospel myself! A chain reaction will take place, as Peter writes in his second letter, Ch. 1:7 that we are to add: “To godliness brotherly love, and to brotherly love, love toward everyone.” [Norw.]

Truly godliness is profitable for all things! 1 Tim. 4:8. “Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.” Isa. 1:17.

Jesus’ personal care for people prompted this important question to Peter: Do you love me more than these? Then feed my lambs and tend my sheep! John 21:15-17. This care is anchored in a life that is in the first love toward Christ. Rev. 2:4.

This is a care that provides spiritually nourishing food at the right time, unto edification, exhortation, and comfort! Luke 12:42 and 1 Cor. 14:3.

Sigurd Johan Bratlie