What to Do?

After a devastating tornado ripped through Oklahoma City, people came out of the woodwork to help those in need.

One man who joined with a team of others to sift through debris and rescued many people said afterward, “It just felt good to help.” There’s something about doing for others that brings blessing in its wake. God urges us to share our bread with the hungry, to care for the poor who are cast out, and to clothe the naked.

Psychologists say it is good for a person’s mental health to get involved in helping people. There’s a reaction that occurs that brings blessing to the one who blesses others. And perhaps this is where faith in God is most genuinely expressed. It doesn’t take much to claim to have faith in God, but a demonstration of disinterested care for a fellow human being gives evidence that faith is real and not simply a theory. James emphasized this in James 2:15–17. “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” God-given opportunities to turn our faith into action demonstrate to others that what we believe is not self-centered but other-centered. Faith in God produces in the believer concern for the well-being of others and a desire to actively be a blessing to the world. Jesus brought this into sharp focus when He said in Matthew 25:40, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” Love for Christ leads to love for others. Love for others is a demonstration of love for God. In blessing others, we are blessed. Look for the chance to make a difference in someone’s life, and as you do, you’ll be doing the work of Jesus.