What does the Bible say about caring for needy children?
James 1:27 – Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
Psalm 127:3,5 – Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them,
Psalm 68:5,6b – A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families.
Psalm 82:3 – Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
Matt. 25:40 – The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
Adoption as a Ministry of the Church
James 1:27 says “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
The Greek word for “look after”, “episkeptomai”, does not merely mean to go to see, but to relieve the problem. Not a shallow term, it implies a commitment to fully meet the needs of the person to whom we are ministering. James indicates that this type of commitment is an outpouring of a heart determined to follow the Lord rather than the world’s standards.
It is every believer’s responsibility to care for orphans, not just a select few. If we truly believe this, in every church there should be families ministering to “orphaned” children in a variety of ways. While some families can welcome a child into their homes, others can help make this possible financially. Still others can provide respite care or make physical modifications of the church facility.
The method a family chooses to minister to children needing families isn’t as important as the fact that we all should be ministering to these children in some way. The love that we lavish on these children will be both a testimony to the world and an opportunity to show our love for the Lord.
Ultimately in the day of judgment “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” – Matthew 25:40 (NIV)
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.
Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.