Caring for People

Abortion, school shootings, suicide, terrorism, racism, abuse, and euthanasia are what happen when people turn their backs on the Creator of life.

True human care is what happens when we trust the Creator of life. The message of creation in Genesis affirms the value of each individual human life -- from the moment of conception until natural death. In Genesis, we learn that God intimately involved Himself in the creation of male and female. This message is repeated throughout Scripture. We are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Ps. 139:14). "I am your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb" (Is. 44:24). "Even to your old age I am He, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save" (Is. 46:4). God "gives to all mankind life and breath and everything" (Acts 17:24-25). Believing God's Word about life compels us to practice human care. Study history. It is Christians who started hospitals, adoption agencies, hospice care, prison ministries, and homes for the aged.

Christians practice human care by "choosing life" (Deut. 30:19-20); "rescuing those being taken to slaughter" (Prov. 24-11-12); "comforting those in affliction" (2 Cor. 1:3-4); and feeding the hungry, welcoming the strangers, clothing the naked, and visiting those who are sick or in prison (Matt. 25:34-36, 40-43, 45-46).

Each human life is valuable because God created and redeemed it in Jesus Christ. Trusting this, the Christian helps make this a safer world for all people of all colors and cultures, all ages, and facing all challenges. Loving and trusting God, we also love our neighbor (Matt. 22:37-39) and "bear one another's burdens" (Gal. 6:2).