Sometimes, as Christians, we become very concerned about the things that seem most important. Sometimes, something as simple as mercy can seem like an afterthought. We might wonder why we should concern ourselves with checking in on a sick neighbor, providing warm socks for the homeless, or sharing a meal with someone when there are souls to be saved and doctrines to be taught. Wouldn’t our efforts be better spent attending to more explicitly spiritual matters? Apparently, God doesn’t think so.
James 1:27 makes it clear: "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world."
God explicitly tells us that real, undefiled religion involves caring for the most vulnerable in society. Why? Because He does not see the world the way we do. We have a tendency to divide existence into two parts—the spiritual and the physical. We consider prayer, worship, and evangelism as the higher, spiritual work, while acts of mercy and care for the physical needs of others are often treated as secondary, optional, or even distractions. But this is not how God sees it.
God cares about the physical
When Jesus walked the earth, He did not merely preach—He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and even wept with the grieving. His miracles were often acts of restoration, touching not just the soul but the body. The blind received sight. The lame walked. The hungry were fed. Why? Because God cares about physical needs.
We sometimes act as though the body is an afterthought to God, that only the soul matters. But this is not the case. When Jesus died on the cross, He did not only die to redeem sinners in some abstract spiritual sense. He died to redeem their bodies as well. The resurrection of Christ is proof that God does not discard the physical—He renews it. One day, we too will be raised with real, physical bodies, made new and whole. Even creation itself groans, awaiting the fullness of redemption (Romans 8:22-23).
If God cares so much about the physical world that He will one day redeem it, then we should care about it too. The needs of God's creatures are not beneath our attention. They are integral to the way we express God's love in the world.
A God Who notices
One of the most beautiful things about God is how deeply He notices and cares for His creation. Jesus said in Matthew 10:29, "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father." Think about that—God notices when a single, seemingly insignificant bird falls to the ground. He takes the time to watch over each flower, every blade of grass. These things were important enough for Him to create, sustain, and delight in.
If He cares that much about birds and grass, how much more does He care about those made in His image? When we give a warm blanket to a homeless man on a freezing night, we are doing something deeply spiritual. When we drop off a frozen casserole to a sick friend, we are acting in accordance with God’s heart. When we sit with a lonely elderly man in his home, simply offering our presence, we are reflecting the love of the One who promised, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).
Mercy as worship
Caring for the physical needs of others is not a distraction from spiritual matters—it is an act of worship. In Matthew 25:35-40, Jesus makes it clear that our treatment of others is, in fact, our treatment of Him:
"For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’"
