Being Careful About What We Care About

The population of the world is steadily growing at nearly 8 billion people, and there’s one thing that is true of all of us. We all have things we care about. It could be a newborn seeking the warm embrace of a parent, or an adult facing a challenge. Hopefully we care about people around us, and even if we don’t, at least most of us care about who we are and the path we are on. So what do we do with all this caring? If something is of the utmost importance, shouldn’t we optimize it’s potential rather than be careless? I mean, being careless would seem like a complete opposite of caring about anything.

What Does It Mean To Care?

Caring is personal. What one person may care about another may find little or no value in. That’s okay though. The important thing is that what we love is our gem. Even if someone sees our diamond as a piece of coal, it’s still a diamond to us. So shouldn’t we polish up that treasure and make it sparkle? Maybe what you care about is another person. In that case, shouldn’t you try to make them sparkle? The same could also be asked about caring about ourselves. If we care about ourselves properly, we should also seek to make ourselves sparkle.

Put simply, to care is to have hope in something. If I care about finding a job, then I have hope that I can find one, or there would never be a point in looking. If I care about a sick friend, then I am hopeful that they will get better. If I care about myself, then I am hopeful for what the future holds.

So with all that being said, wouldn’t it make sense that if to care is to have hope, then to be careless would be to hopeless?

Being Careless

There’s nothing easier, or harder, than being careless. It’s easy to do nothing, but it’s also hard to deal with what follows. Do you need a job? Great, but don’t look for one. It will be easy not to look, but it’s going to get hard when the bills start rolling in. When the power is shutoff, then you’re going to care. You’re going to be hopeful that you can find a way to get that power back on. However, if you would’ve cared before the problem, then your power would still be on and the situation would be sparkling. It just doesn’t work to be careless. Sure, it’s easy now, but it’s going to catch up with you.

Being Careful

If being careless is a bad idea, then it’s probably a good idea to look at how we can be careful. Of course my recommendation would be to look at God’s Word. What does the Master say?

1 Peter 5:6-7 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Our hope is found in the Lord, so we need to include Him in those things we care about. Need a job? Great, but don’t go looking alone. Take Jesus with you. Have a friend who is sick? Perfect! Take Jesus with you to go see them. We may not have the answer, solution, or even the cure, but God does. He knows exactly how to handle our cares and He wants to be involved.

Final Thought

We all have cares but we don’t always know what to do with them. It’s fine though. God knows and He’s there to help. We’re not expected to have all the answers, but we are expected to have hope in Him. He knows how to get that gem sparkling and how to keep it sparkling.

1 John 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Remember, our relationship with the Lord isn’t one-sided. God is giving and we should be giving as well, so be sure to give God your hope. Cast it before Him and let Him handle your cares with you.

Questions:

What are some things you care about?

How can you share your care for these things with God?