What Gives Us Worth

One of the struggles serving the kids over the past 13 years has been wondering if what I’m doing is really effective. My staff and I have seen kids grow up from kindergarten to now high school graduates. We’ve witnessed kids go through highs and lows. We’ve seen some good fruit from our labor, but we’ve also experienced a ton of hurt and disappointment. We’ve given much but have not gotten as much in return. No mass salvations. No big miracles. Some of the children/students that we have been proud of have later fallen into struggles. Some are still faithful and growing, but the hurts and scars these kids carry are real. With so many kids at each children’s home it can be easy to feel overwhelmed at times.

Thankfully God has reminded me time and time again that it isn’t the “fruit” that he judges us by or is blessed by. It isn’t the number of people saved, the number of miracles that happened, or even how much we fasted or gave. Instead, we’re judged by love. We bless God’s heart by His love.

God’s greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. His second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. The Good Samaritan was Jesus’ example to us for how to love our neighbor. The Good Samaritan saw a man who had been beaten and robbed and left for dead and he took the man and bandaged him up and brought him into a town and paid for his care at an inn. And then he left him and went on his way. We don’t know if the beaten and robbed man was a good man or not. We don’t know if he was changed from the experience or if he was even conscious while the Samaritan helped him. But what we do know is that to Jesus the Samaritan acted out of God’s heart and his actions were pleasing to God. The fruit? Unknown. The act? Blessed by God.

In Matthew 25:31-46 we read of the final judgment and how God will divide the people on one side and the other. To the righteous He will bless them for having cared for Him. And they will respond…

Matthew 25:37-40 – ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me.’

What happened to those who were fed, clothed, or visited in prison? We don’t know the fruit of the actions. But what we do know is that God was blessed regardless. He was blessed by their love. He was blessed by how they acted out of God’s heart and cared for those around them. In the end, the results of our efforts belong to God, not to us.

I’ve learned I shouldn’t let my works or accomplishments define me. It can be easy to feel good about myself when something good comes from my actions. But at the same time it can be easy to feel bad about myself when things don’t go the way I had hoped. Neither should be what defines me. What is really meant to give me worth is Christ inside me. When I am able to worship the Lord and bless His name, and when I am able to love others out of His heart, that is when it’s clear that Christ is at work in me and through me. The results may be varied, but the heart and the love are blessed. And God is pleased.