Christian Families & Charity: Serving Jesus and Volunteering with Love

WWJD. What would Jesus do? This expression, turning up on key chains, bracelets, and countless other places, has been reminding Christians for a while now of what’s at the heart of the faith: following Christ. The ubiquitous acronym reminds young and old to consider what Jesus would do in any given situation and then to act accordingly. 

One major way a person or family can imitate Christ is of course to serve other people. Parents who get their families involved in service, whether through a big volunteer commitment, or with a small, simple act, have a chance to help their kids  put “WWJD” into action. Helping other people is what  the humble and loving servant Jesus would do. 

But when families ask “WWJD?” and then take part in some sort service, there is another question to keep in mind. Jesus always acted with love -  both for the people and for God. Trying to really imitate Jesus means also asking if love is at heart of our plans to do good works. We should ask another question before we start our service: “HWJF? How Would Jesus feel?" We need to encourage our kids – and ourselves – to try to be more like Jesus and love  both the people we’re helping and  God who calls us to help them. How can parents make sure love is a real part of the service their families do? There are a few simple steps we can take which will ensure our families are serving with love.