The care of souls is not formulaic or predictable. What helps one person might not help another. When you listen to people’s stories, you can be helpful in so many ways. Some will be strengthened by a particular text of Scripture. Others will be moved by a personal story that helps them see God and their relationship to him in a new way, an act of love giving a taste of God’s kindness, or the death of a friend painfully reminding them of human need for redemption of body and soul. God uses people, circumstances, his Word, our own choices, and the direct power of his Spirit. Humility is an essential quality of a helper. We are constantly reliant on God, the wisdom and experience of others, and the input of those we help.

Taken together, a common path emerges. Our help joins our knowledge of the person with the knowledge of God. Our help unites the person’s story with God’s story. We aim to know the person accurately, meaningfully, and compassionately. We aim to know God through his Word, in which we understand his words in their context and as a larger story of redemption and love. In response to him, we give him our trust, love, and worship.

All of us are saints, sufferers, and sinners. We will see good, hard, and sinful things in ourselves and in the people we help. We aim to look for the good, hard, and sinful—in that order.