In 1 Corinthians 13:13, the apostle Paul writes, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” Why? Why would Paul write that “the greatest of these is love”?
Well, let’s look at what Jesus defines as love. In the Gospel of John 15:13-14, Jesus says to his disciples, “Greater love has no one that this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” Love is most important because love is central to the redemptive act of Jesus giving His life to atone for our sins on the cross. He did not do this because He had to; rather, He did this because He wanted to for such was His great love towards us.
At MBCH Children and Family Ministries (MBCH-CFM) and The LIGHT House (LH) our staff give up their lives every day to share this great love of God with the children, youth and families they minister to. They are doing what Jesus commanded every day. It’s hard work, and the hardest parts of it often go unnoticed. However, this does not make the work less impactful, less important or less Gospel centered.
The children, youth and families ministered to across Missouri through MBCH-CFM and the LH are hurting. They have physical needs for shelter, food, transportation, clothes, etc. They have emotional needs as all of them have experienced some trauma in their life that has made their paths cross with ours. They need counseling and trusted social workers to help them navigate through and deal with this trauma. Most importantly, they, like every other human being alive, need Jesus. They need the compassion, mercy, and redemption that is only found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As Paul writes, in Philippians 2:6-8 regarding Jesus, “…who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Our ministry recipients need to know that He gets them. He understands them right where they are and He wants to redeem their life here and now and for all of eternity!
Please pray for MBCH-CFM and the LH. In addition, we challenge you to find a way that you, your family or your local church can support MBCH-CFM and the LH as we seek to bring the Hope of Christ to hurting people. As always, thank you so much for your faithful generosity, year-in and year-out, that makes an eternal difference in the lives of “the least of these”!