Serving people in need often begins with something practical.
You bring a meal to someone who is overwhelmed. You offer a ride to a medical appointment. You call a person who has been lonely and take time to listen.
This article focuses mainly on helping people in your own community. But we should also remember people facing poverty, conflict, disasters, and other serious needs in places far from us. We may help through prayer, giving, and supporting trusted organizations.
The ideas below about serving those around us may not seem unusual, but they can make a real difference in someone’s life.
As the Apostle Paul reminded the Ephesian elders, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
We show the care of Jesus through what we say and do.
Examples of serving people in need at home
The people closest to you may be carrying needs you do not immediately see.
So, we can try to notice concerns without overstepping or intruding.
Sometimes, a simple question is enough to begin:
“Is there anything I can do this week?”
You might bring dinner to parents with a new baby, pick up groceries for an older neighbor, help with childcare, or sit with a friend who needs to talk.
It is also important to ask what would actually help. You may assume someone needs a meal when what they really need is a ride or help completing a task. Asking first shows respect and allows the person to tell you what would be useful.
Your home can also become a place where people feel welcome. Invite someone who lives alone to dinner. Make sure a newcomer at church feels noticed. Send an email or make a call when someone has been sick.
None of these things are complicated, but they may matter more than you realize.
Serve through your church and community
Your church may already have opportunities to help people, and there are needs outside the church, too.
A food pantry may need help organizing donations. A shelter may need volunteers. A school may need adults willing to help students with reading or homework.
Choose something that fits your schedule and that you can realistically continue doing.
Serving alongside people whose experiences are different from yours may also deepen your Christian compassion. You may meet families facing job loss, newcomers adjusting to a different culture, or people trying to rebuild after a difficult loss.
Listening to their experiences may help you understand needs you had not thought much about before.
Give what you can
Giving money can help when someone needs food, housing, transportation, or medical care.
And it is wise to learn how any organization you give money to uses donations.
But serving is not limited to money.
A teacher may help a child learn to read. Someone who knows how to repair things may fix something that’s broken. A friend may help someone prepare a résumé or complete a job application.
Your own experience may give you a way to help someone.
Consider what you know how to do and where there may be a need.
Serve with presence and prayer
Someone in the hospital may simply appreciate a visit. A friend going through a difficult week may need time to talk without being interrupted. At a funeral, your presence may bring comfort even when you are not sure what to say.
Listening is also a form of serving.
Prayer can be too.
Ask someone whether you can pray for them. Then simply pray for the situation they shared and ask God to give them strength, peace, wisdom, or whatever they need.
Prayer also reminds you that you are not responsible for fixing everything. You can help, listen, encourage, and pray while trusting God with what is beyond your ability.
Keep serving when the need continues
Some needs are brief. Others last for months or years.
A person looking for work may need encouragement long after the first conversation. A family caring for someone who is ill may need help more than once. A child who lacks confidence may need steady encouragement throughout the school year.
But don’t promise more than you can continue doing.
You also do not have to meet every need by yourself. Sometimes, the best response is to involve others.
A church, small group, or group of friends may be able to share the responsibility. That can provide more support without placing the entire need on one person.
Let compassion lead to action
It is easy to feel concern for someone and then move on with the day.
Serving begins when concern leads to action.
Think about someone who has been on your mind. Is there a message you should send? A meal you could prepare? A ride you could offer? A person you should call?
Take one step that fits the need and what you are able to do.
Notice someone, offer what you can, and allow God to use your act of service.