Love for other people—Jesus commands this and tells us that it is the hallmark of our identity as his disciples (John 13:35). There are many words that the Bible uses for the ways we ought to demonstrate this love for others: edification, discipleship, teaching, service, ministry, giving.
In a previous article, I wrote about how the term cultivate has helped me to consider living out God’s truth and the resulting fruit of the Spirit. As we consider the other people in our lives, the word nurture can also be a useful word to reflect on. Nurturing has a lot of similarities with cultivation. Both are used with promoting and protecting life. Both take intentional planning, time, and dedication.
Nurturing also captures the love and deep care that should direct our approach to the people in our lives. We imagine a mother nurturing her small children, lovingly working to ensure they thrive.
God gives us examples of how to nurture
If we want to better understand how to nurture others, we can meditate on God’s example. When describing the way He cares for and comforts His people, God compares Himself to a nursing mother.
Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
Isaiah 49:15
This phase of motherhood is the time when needy and vulnerable infants require the most attention and care. Moms at this stage are caring for their cherished babies through night and day, spending nearly all of their time feeding, cleaning, snuggling, and guarding their infants. Daily showers and proper rest take a back seat as moms sacrifice much to meet the needs of their infants. God compares Himself to this kind of mother and assures us that His care and attention are even greater. After all, He is infinite in His strength, and His love endures forever!
The examples of gentle nurturing and care continue in scripture. The apostle Paul makes a similar comparison when speaking of his care of fellow Christians.
7 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
1 Thessalonians 2:7-8
Although they were not members of his family, he cared for these people as if they were his own children. He cared for them when they didn’t know Christ, nurturing their faith and giving whatever he could to benefit them. His care continued as he taught them how to live out their faith, how to “walk and to please God” (1 Thess 4:1).
Nurturing involves sacrifice
The above examples highlight the deep affection involved in nurturing others as well as the level of sacrifice. It is certainly a sacrifice when we choose to spend our time and energy on the needs of others rather than on ourselves. When we question the nature of this sacrifice, our Lord Jesus Christ provides a shining example of what this looks like:
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
2 Corinthians 8:9
Although always a gracious act, sacrificing for others can also seem logical when they are members of our own family or intimate friends. We can see the way that their well-being and our own well-being are intertwined. But Christ’s sacrifice reveals a love that defies our human logic. He gave to us and sacrificed for us even when we were His enemies.
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Romans 5:10-11
These examples may astonish and overwhelm us, and we may be tempted to move on to something that seems less impossible. However, we must remember the words of Jesus: “with God all things are possible” (Matt 19:26).
As we pray for God’s grace and the help of the Holy Spirit in caring for others in this way, we can focus on a few things.
Nurturing centers on love and truth
Nurturing includes care of physical needs as well as spiritual needs, and it must be grounded in love and truth. Without love, nurturing can turn into manipulative control, and without truth, it can be destructive (even unintentionally so) rather than life-giving. As we seek to nurture the people in our lives, it’s important that we are first seeking God and His kingdom, rather than building our own, and we are looking to Him for grace and strength.
Recognizing our own inability, we can run to Him, filling up on His truth and delighting in Him for ourselves. Only He can change our hearts to be able to love the unlovable, and His truth is what will comfort and strengthen us. Then, we can turn around and pour out His love and truth on those around us. He comforts us “so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor 1:4).
Just like a gardener makes a routine of watering her plants each day, much of our nurturing will be miniscule, mundane actions that may not seem important in and of themselves. Their cumulated effects, however, have eternal significance. Our work-a-day rhythms and family routines are opportunities for God’s truth and love to shine in the world around us.
Nurture near and far
We can intentionally and lovingly proclaim truth to people who are near and far. This happens as we are pointing out to our children what creation tells us about God, when we choose to praise God to our coworkers, and when we rehearse the gospel each day with our friends and family.
The world nurture calls up images of motherhood to our mind, but we are to nurture more than just those who are dependent on us. We follow God’s example when we seek to nurture people outside of our homes as well. Using our spiritual gifts in church is a way that we nurture and edify our fellow believers. Sharing the gospel and living out its truths is a way we nurture people who haven’t yet believed in Jesus Christ.
Nurture seeds and sprouts
For some of the people in our lives, planting seeds of gospel truth and pouring out grace and love as we have opportunity is the only nurturing we can do. For others, we may see that gospel seed turn into new life and faith, and we can help to build up their faith and their knowledge of God. Some interactions with people may last only hours or days, while others continue for a lifetime. We should consider all kinds of relationships (near and far) as well as different objects of our nurturing (seeds and sprouts). We should take time to examine the relationships in our lives and how we can nurture the people around us.
In what ways does God want you to nurture the people in your life?
This article is part of a series that has culminated in a prompted journal for Christian growth. You can find more information about this journal here. You can find the first part of the series here.
Do you long for real growth in your Christian walk and more clear evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in your life? God’s word has the answers, and this journal points to those answers while providing the structure and space for you to work through these truths for your life. (Amazon description)
Suggested Reading:
“In this encouraging book for frazzled moms, Gloria Furman helps us reorient our vision of motherhood around what the Bible teaches. Showing how to pursue a vibrant relationship with God―even when discouragement sets in and the laundry still needs to be washed―this book will help you treasure Christ more deeply no matter how busy you are.” (Amazon description)
“How People Change targets the root of a person: the heart. When our core desires and motivations change, only then will behavior follow. Using a biblical model of Heat, Thorns, Cross, and Fruit, Paul David Tripp and Timothy S. Lane reveal how lasting change is possible.” (Amazon description)