Knit to the Soul
As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.—1 Samuel 18:1 (ESV)
The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.—PROVERBS 10:7 NIV
When our time of caregiving ends, how will others remember us? We may be surprised to find that family and friends have considered our unpaid (sometimes unappreciated) work a blessing. Perhaps we’ve even become family heroes because we did what others could not.
As we gave that daily care, we weren’t seeking kudos. If we considered blessings, we thought of those we’d received from God—or our efforts to shower those blessings on our hurting loved ones. Our attempts to help may have been received with gratitude or irritation, but we looked to the higher good, consistently providing the best possible care. Troubles did not stop us, because we were serving our Lord in all we did.
Looking back, we’ll see the value of those daily blessings. But their best value may still be coming, as we’ll share that Jesus was the one who kept us faithful. His strength kept us moving in the right direction. The real righteousness was always His, never our own.
When our caregiving is done, we’ll want to help others see Christ in all the work we did.
When people look at me, Lord, help them to clearly see Your love in action.
As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.—1 Samuel 18:1 (ESV)
For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”—Galatians 5:14 (NIV)
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.—John 15:12 (ESV)