Scripture that keeps you going when it seems you can’t give anymore
I have worked with those in extreme poverty daily for nearly a decade now, first as a pastor in a church and now as a chaplain in a non-profit organization. At the deepest level of your heart, if you want to help people break generational cycles of poverty, addiction, and criminal thinking, you must be engaged in an ongoing, open and honest relationship with those you are serving and that can be a heavy burden sometimes. I find consulting scripture is a way to renew my heart and dedication to the cause of restoration. Following are a few of my favorites.
Heart Work
And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Matthew 9:35–38
I come back to this one time and time again. It not only opens my book but is the absolute key to why I began restoration ministry. God did a deep work in my heart and this passage pushed me to commit my life to serving those in extreme poverty.
Love
If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:3
The Bible teaches that we can serve to the point of giving our stuff and ourselves away and yet, it remains meaningless if we do not have love. Please take a moment to let that sink in.
Resolve
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
Proverbs 4:23
This favorite proverb of mine helps with those regular heart checks when your resolve may be flagging.
Renewal
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
Romans 12:1
This verse explains being transformed by a renewing of your mind when it comes to praying for the hurting people you are serving. There is no more powerful tool than prayer when it comes to caring for those in need of restoration and for those helping with that restoration.
Prayer
Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.
1 Samuel 12:23
Not praying for those we serve not only hinders their chance for restorative life change, but it is also a sin against the Lord. I don’t know about you, but I am compelled now more than ever to pray.
Investing in people
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 13:34–35
This one needs very little in the way of explanation. Investing in people the way Jesus invested in them should be a high priority.
There isn’t enough blog space in the world for me to list all the scriptures and passages that I refer to in times of struggle and insecurity but I hope these few will help light the way for you when things start to seem hopeless.
About Mark McKnelly
Mark McKnelly is an author, speaker, coach and wholistic life restoration minister. McKnelly develops and helps other organizations develop programs for men and women reentering society from incarceration or recovering from addiction. He shares his practical process in his book Change for the Poor to teach others how to help individuals in extreme material and relational poverty restore their own spiritual, relational, personal, vocational and financial lives. His personal journey through addiction and recovery led him to his ministry.