"Who cares? Do you care?
I care… well sometimes I do. I probably don’t care as much as I think I do, or as much as I ‘should’. I want to care, I want to help, I want to love! The problem is…me!
In the past year my family has encountered some of the most caring people we have ever met, and then, on the other hand, we have also been around ‘the others’.
People who care are an amazing set of individuals, who I am incredibly grateful for and challenged by. People who care demonstrate love and compassion, empathy, selflessness, and a host of other traits that meet the deep needs of the hurting and truly bear each others burdens.
‘The others’ are also an interesting group, some of these don’t care and don’t even care that they don’t care, and still others think they care but really their care is only towards their own well-being, which I don’t think fits the definition of what I am talking about.
If there is anything I have learned about myself in the past year it is that on most days I fit in better with ‘the others’ than with the people who care. Honestly, I hate this about myself and something has to change. For years, I have often been admonished to care, by statements such as…
-People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care!
-Galatians 6:2Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
So what’s my problem? That’s the wrong question, the more proper question is what are my problems, there are a lot of them. However, here is I think, the root of the problem. I don’t care, because I am not receiving the care I need. Too often, I look to lesser things to meet my ultimate needs and the desires of my heart. These lesser things bring false fulfillment and leave me longing for more and looking to other sources. All the while, I have a gracious and powerful Father who offers me this…
1 Peter 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Only when I humbly place my cares in God’s mighty hands, and receive his love am I fully prepared to show others the care they so desperately need. So my conclusion has to be this…Remember ‘the others’, the ones that don’t seem to care, they are not living in or experiencing the unfailing love of God. They are not being filled with his mercy and compassion, for if they were they couldn’t help but to love people radically and care selflessly for the hurting.
The solution: Humble yourself by looking to Jesus, the one whose eyes are full of compassion and hands are mighty to save, or to just give you a hug. Take all of your personal cares, anxiety, worries and everyday give them to Jesus. Why? The answer to why, is the answer to my initial question…Who cares? Jesus cares! Jesus cares and is the spring of life and love, the God of compassion and our example of sacrificial, redeeming love." - Aaron McRae
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