We Love Because He Fist Loved Us

Orphans are not statistics.  They’re not merely by-products of war, famine, tragedy, or disaster.  They are children, created in the image of God and loved by Him, but are the victims of man’s heartbreaking brokenness.

​In The Least of These, I asked you what you were going to do now.  Now that you know that every orphan child’s name is Jesus; know that when you see their faces, you’re looking at the face of your Savior. You can’t walk away and claim ignorance because now you know that every needy child you receive is like receiving Christ, but everyone you reject is like rejecting your Creator and Redeemer.  So I ask you again, what are you going to do now that you know?  Will you give one of the least of these a cup of water, a decent meal, or protection against the elements in Jesus' name?​

Over 2,800 years ago, Jehovah sent Isaiah the prophet to call His wayward people Israel to return, and He commanded then to

“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause."

​Our God is a God of compassion, love, justice, and goodness.  He is the advocate for the voiceless, the defender of the helpless, and the Father to the fatherless.  And He expects us, His ransomed children, to follow in His footsteps, to father the fatherless, to speak out for the voiceless, and to defend the helpless.  Like Israel of old, we are not recommended to live out Isaiah 1:17, we are commanded.  We are mandated, as an expression of pure and undefiled worship, to look after orphans in their distress.  And in the last day, we will be judged for what we do and do not do.  As Jesus said in Matthew 25, those who care for the least of these, care for Christ, and those who reject them, reject the Savior of the world.  And Jesus also said in Matthew 19,

“Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

This truth includes orphan children around the world, to them also belongs the kingdom of heaven.  But, like Paul wrote in Romans,

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”

They will not be able to call on the Father of the fatherless, until they are told about Him.  They will not hear the good news that God has already rescued them, unless we, the Church, tell them.  And they will not be able to even begin to understand God’s unfathomable love unless we—those who have been loved—show them.  So let us tell the very least of the least of these about the One who came and delivered us and is the Father to the orphan, and let us show them Christ’s love so that they can understand what love is.  Let’s get involved in the movement to care for orphans!

​Orphan care—caring for the fatherless around the world—is a simple way to help the plight of the orphan.  Getting involved doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to fly halfway around the world and help distribute food in Africa, but it can be as simple as praying for these children in need or sending a monthly gift to an organization that does feed and clothe orphans.  There are so many ways in which you can get involved, and it doesn’t matter what age you are—child, teenager, young adult, adult, retiree—anyone and everyone can become an active participant in orphan care.  So check out the organizations below and discover how you can begin to fulfill your divine mandate to care for orphans!

​While following this series, you may have asked, “Why would one do this?” The answer is simple. We bring care and love to orphans for two reasons. One, because we are commanded to.  But, two and more importantly because He—Christ, the Savior of the world, the Son of God—left His comfortable dwelling in paradise and came to earth to rescue us, the broken.  This is why we care for orphans, and why we love them with the love of Christ, because as the Apostle of Love wrote,

“We love because he first loved us.”