Helping is Loving

Mike Hosey, An Elder

It might be best to define love as being committed to the well-being of others.  Whether or not such a definition fully describes the concept, it would be hard to argue that it isn’t at least a very significant component of that action that God calls every one of us to do.  Give this a try:  look up all the instances of the word “love” in the Bible, and replace them with the proper grammatical variation of the word commitment.  You will find in almost every meaningful occurrence that the match is near perfect. Just consider the Bible’s most well-known love verse, John 3:16.  For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son . . .  For God was so committed to the world that he gave his only begotten son . . .

So how do people actualize such love?  Well, one place to start is by being a helper.  You don’t have to possess some super spiritual, magical, Old Testament prophet-like force to do it.  Anyone can be a helper.  When you see someone in need, meet the need with whatever ability you have.  We are, after all, commanded to do this. Philippians 2:4, for instance, tells us to look out not only for our own interests, but the interests of others.   Galatians 6:2 tells us that bearing one another’s burdens is fulfilling the law of Christ.  And John 15:12 tells us to love others – to be committed to others – as Christ has loved us.  Christ loved us by helping us in a totally sacrificial way. It’s no accident that Jesus gives us the story of the Good (and sacrificially helpful) Samaritan as an illustration of love (Luke 10:27), as well as what it means to be a good neighbor (Luke 10:25-37).

When you help someone, you give them an opportunity to advance. You also are an agent of God’s love and power in a world that desperately needs him.

In fact, take a moment to think of a time when someone has helped you, and where you would be if they had chosen to keep their helps to themselves!  You can have that same power – and even more. If you look around, you will find ample opportunities to be that agent of God. You’ll find them in church because churches always need help.  But more importantly, you will find them on your DAILY walks.