Care and compassion are supernatural.

The ability to care effectively comes from God’s powerful creative work within us. It is from His work that gives us a new nature that changes us so we can do the supernatural work of caring the way He does.

Writing about care is better than I deserve.

That humbles me. I do not deserve to be writing about this subject, as if I am naturally a caring person who is inviting you to the world of care ministry with me.

Actually, the opposite is true. My tendency is to be self-conscious which often leads to self protection and self promoting behavior.

There is a scene from my boyhood that clearly illustrates my selfish nature. I compare my behavior to a famous scene in the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Clarence, the angel trying to earn his wings, was convincing George Bailey, who was in a state of despair, that his life was valuable way back to when he saved his brother’s life when he fell through the ice of a pond while sled-riding.

My boyhood home was at the top of the sled riding hill in our neighborhood. At least once every year, there would be a warm spell, the snow would melt, perhaps there would be a rainey day and a very large puddle would form at the bottom of our hill. It might have been 15’ wide and 100’ long.

The weather would turn could again and the large puddle would freeze over and make for great slipping, sliding and sledding across the ice at the bottom of the hill. The water beneath the couple of inches of ice would be about as deep as the top of our boots. It was not deep enough for anyone to drown, but deep enough to ruin a day of sled riding if you fell through.

One day a couple of friends and I, after we rode our sleds to the bottom of the hill and safely across the thin layer of ice on top of this big puddle, stomped a few holes in the ice, barely visible under the water that came to the surface. “Hey Davey,” I said, “Go down that way and see if you can get through those dark spots.” He accepted my challenge.

What happened was exactly what we expected. The runners of his sled broke through the ice where we stomped the holes. They stuck in the ice and immediately stopped the sled. But, Davey kept on sliding, head first into the icy water on a Pennsylvania winter day. It may have been warm enough for soft spots to form in the ice, but the mid to high 30’s were bitter cold, especially when one got wet.

We laughed and thought it was so funny as he slogged back to the top of the hill, soaking wet with icy-cold water dripping off of his nose. “I’m going home,” our freezing playmate said.

Now, I remember, with great sadness and regret, that act of bullying.  More than likely, it is the Holy Spirit reminding me of what I was like before His presence was leading me. Also, God challenged to imagine what I would be like without Him. I cannot take credit for being a caring person proudly writing about care to help others care the way I do.

It is by God’s blessing and grace that care is my special focus of ministry.

I cannot thank Him enough for being patient with me and using me, a very flawed person, to promote the importance of caring for others. He led me to people and environments where, while He was changing the inside of me, I would learn that there is a way to care for people.

My transformation began at home. I was born into a Christian home and at a very early age recognized that I was a sinner in need of a Savior. After asking Jesus to be my savior and forgive my sins through sacrificing His life on the cross, I felt better. Something happened inside of me. A new life had begun and I felt loved and accepted by God. God’s work for and in me had immediate benefits. Over a lifetime of successes and failures, I have seen God’s work of progressive sanctification living in me as He continues to make me into who He desires me to be.

Because of the change inside of me, I was more responsive to the teaching and examples outside of me. I trust He will continue until I die or Jesus returns.

My example, of a changed nature, is personal. The Bible and history reveal more. Here are two.

The apostle Paul turned from a murderous persecutor of the church to a primary writer of the New Testament including the love chapter.

John Newton is a historical character who was the captain of slave ships but was changed by God and out of gratitude composed the world’s most popular hymn, “Amazing Grace.”

Within this transforming experience is the discovery of how God cares for people and desires a relationship with each one. He has provided a way for everyone to come into a relationship with Him, if they want to.

An uncaring person and an uncaring world can become caring.

This is really good news. An uncaring person can become caring. People can change from the inside to the outside through God’s supernatural power working inside of them.

The negative story of my selfish behavior is testimony to the fact this transformation is for each of us and it empowers us to care they way God did, to reach us.

Among people of Christian faith, there are variations on the interpretation of the details of a new nature. I will not attempt to sort out those differences here, but I do make the point that experiencing God is a transformative work that makes us new and the newness is to live with God and for God, by the presence and power of God so He and His ways flow out of our lives.

Acting selflessly and caring for others is simply not natural. We may call it difficult, but it would be better to call it impossible. So, caring for people is where God's character and work is most vividly experienced as the impossible becomes possible every day and in every circumstance.

The practical application to a powerful theology.

The theological reality of a new nature also has a beautiful practical side. The Holy Spirit fuels our new nature with God's character to operate in His ways. He is our Shepherd, who tends us like his sheep. He is our Gardener, who nurtures, prunes and cultivates us to be fruitful. He is the suffering savior who gave Himself for us and did not use His divine power but became a servant. So the fruit that flows from having a new nature flowing through us produces God's love, compassion and selfless love in us to flow through us.

Don't just try harder. Receive God's work for an in you to he can produce his supernatural work through you.

Your care matters! It is supernatural.