Every time you see Christians who are pro-adoption and proactive about caring for the fatherless, it conveys the value of human life and the importance of meeting the needs of the truly needy. Scripture emphasizes helping widows and orphans, and adoption is all about opening your home to the neediest of those. James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” For an orphan to be physically without a father and ultimately without a mother is an unthinkable place for a child to be.

True, not every family is called to adopt or to provide foster care. But should the people of God as a whole be challenged to get involved and support other people in the body of Christ who are? I would say they absolutely should support not only those in their own church who wish to adopt or foster, but also those in other churches and other places.

We must learn to see orphans as God does—“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing” (Deut. 10:18). Furthermore, we must act toward them as God commands us to act:

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. (Ps. 82:3–4)

As we intervene on behalf of His children, let’s realize it is Christ Himself for whom we intervene (Matt. 25:40).

If you’d like to be involved in helping an orphan care ministry financially, a wonderful one that works with local churches is Hope for Orphans (a ministry of Family Life Today). 

Photo by Adrianna Van Groningen on Unsplash