“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’

Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” Matthew 25:34-40 KJV

The hungry, thirsty, unclothed, sick, poor, and imprisoned are the ones who are mentioned in this verse — those in desperate need of help and care. It is important to understand why God mentions these people to be helped or visited. These are, generally speaking, the people who can’t pay you back for your generosity. Instead, your reward lies in God seeing your faithfulness.

I’ve found that in attempting to bless others, they bless me tenfold! Psalm 41:1-3 talks about receiving blessings by helping any poor or sick person: “Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health.”

I came to Christ when I was a teenager and my life’s direction changed. I left behind everything that offered me a profit or success in the world and decided to follow Christ unconditionally (God loves me in this way, after all, so how could I do otherwise?).

As a physician, many people come to me for medical care. Day by day I am learning how to best serve people so that they will not only recover physically but also feel God’s love and care. If we — the hands and feet of Jesus — help people according to His will, we win them for Jesus and God’s Kingdom.

When we serve God’s people, whom do we see in them? Matthew 10:40-42 tells us, “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

What do we sow and how many seeds do we use for sowing through our life and work? If we are faithful to sow seeds, then the harvest will be plentiful! Giving is better than receiving, after all. Giving freely is a trademark of a righteous person, but the willingness to do so comes from God.

Written by Armenian Haggai leader and International Christian Medical Mission CEO Dr. Syuzanna Voskanyan