Mark 12:29-31 ... And Jesus answered him, The first of all the
commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And
thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the
first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater
than these.
Exhortation: Joan Boney
First and above all, please God. Then try to do that which is right in the sight of God by your neighbor.
Recently, one of my former bridge partners who is 92 fell. When I talked with her by phone she told me she could walk but it was hard and her son brought his cane to her but that cane was just too tall for her and it couldn't be adjusted.
I went immediately and got her an adjustable cane and took it to her.
When I got ready to leave her house, she tried to go to door with me and she fell. She was able to get up herself but I was so grieved thinking I had done wrong. "If I hadn't gone there, she might not have fallen again."
When I told a member of our church group this story and my grief, she was reminded of the following.
James 1:27 ... Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
"To visit" means to judge their situation. This is exactly what I had done. I saw Johnnie's need for a cane and I took care of that need. I believe God was showing me that I did what was right "in HIS sight". After that I stopped being concerned. All that matters is what God thinks about that which we did.
I don't go about trying to help people. Nor do I look for "needs". But when I see a need and am able to provide for that need, then I just try to do it, immediately, in a timely way.
Visit the fatherless and widow would mean to take heed to real needs, especially when you are able to help in that area.