Caring. It is something that every Christian needs to understand. How much we care will determine how we respond in every relationship we are involved in. If we don’t care about God we will not put Him first. If we do not care about ourselves, we will not take care of ourselves. If we do not care about our brethren, we will not give them the concern they ought to have in our lives. If we don’t care about our neighbors we will not think about them as we make decisions concerning where we go, what we do, what we wear, etc. And we will not put forth appropriate effort to teach them the truth. Yes it is important that we care.

The word care has many definitions in the English language. The one we are concerned with in this article is the verb form defined as, "to be concerned or interested" (The American Heritage Dictionary, MS Bookshelf 98). And this ought to describe the Christian’s attitude. A very practical definition for Christian love (agape) is, "caring enough to sacrifice for what is best." Consider this in light of how Biblical scholars define the word. Thayer defines the word as, "a. to be full of good will and exhibit the same… b. with the accusative of the person, to have a preference for, wish well to, regard the welfare of." Thayer then describes different ways it is used by saying it is used "of the love of Christians toward one another… of the benevolence which God , in providing salvation for men has exhibited by sending His Son to them and giving Him up in death… of the love which led Christ…to undergo sufferings and death…" W.E. Vine says of agape it is "the principle word of Christianity". After describing various relationships that involve this love much like Thayer, he then says, "Love can be known only from the actions it prompts. A little later in his discourse Vine says, "Christian love, whether exercised toward the brethren, or toward men generally, is not an impulse from the feelings, it does not always run with the natural inclinations, nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom some affinity is discovered. Love seeks the welfare of all, Rom 15:2, and works no ill to any, 13:8,9,10; love seeks opportunity to do good to 'all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith,' Gal 6:10. See further 1 Cor 13 and Col 3:12-14". Vincent says of this word that it, "indicates a reasoning, discriminating attachment, founded in the conviction that its object is worthy of esteem, or entitled to it on account of benefits bestowed." Vincent in comparing this love with brotherly love (Phileo) says that agape is "the intelligent element" whereas phileo is "the affectional element" (Vincent’s Word Studies, Notes from John 5:20). While all of these definitions may seem a bit wordy, if you examine them closely you will notice they deal with CARING. In fact in virtually every passage where the word love (agape) is used, you can see the need to care. God cared for us enough to send Jesus. We have to care for one another. We have to care about ourselves. We have to care about our neighbor and our influence upon the world. Truly we CANNOT separate true Christian love and caring.

When we hear someone say, "I don’t care" it usually indicates they are not concerned about what happens in a certain situation or with someone. But, if we are Christians WE OUGHT TO CARE!

It also needs to be understood that the concept of caring can be abused. Often when one does not get their way they will say, "You don’t care!" trying to lay a guilt trip upon them. While there may be some who do not care, that is NOT necessarily the case. They may say no because they DO care. There is nothing that burns me up more than to receive a "junk" email that has been sent to hundreds of people with a notice at the end saying, "If you don’t forward this to everyone you know YOU DON’T CARE!" Such a statement is arrogant, selfish and judgmental. It is an abuse of what it really means to care as God would have us to care about others. Think about it!

In the coming weeks, articles are going to be written to help us understand how important it is that as Christians we care about everything we do. And it is my hope that we will take these things to heart and examine how much we really DO care in this life.