Did You Learn to Love?
by: Anne Coleman Hufham
April 29, 2026
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
I became a mom roughly seven months ago. It has been the greatest seven months of my life. Yes, there have been challenges to work through and it has not always been easy or blissful, but God has shaped, refined, purified my heart in more ways than one. One thing He sure has shown me is the importance of being faithful in the everyday, unseen moments when the only eyes looking at me are my baby’s beautiful big, blue eyes. She sees the way I speak to strangers, respond to negative situations, whether I choose patience or frustration. Nothing is hidden from her sight. I have been shown the value of a life being lived with an audience of one. A verse comes to mind, Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
Our culture measures worth by visibility, influence, income, impact. But God measures it by faithfulness. He sees the one who stays up late praying for a child’s fever. The one who gives away freely without letting his left hand know what his right hand is doing. The cup of cold water moments. The one who moves towards the sinner instead of away. The one who takes time to look at peoples’ faces and sees their potential in Christ. The one who chooses forgiveness instead of bitterness. The one who seeks God’s voice in the secret place above every other voice.
We have nothing to offer people publicly if we are not pursuing intimacy with Christ privately when no one is watching. How you love your spouse, your child, your pet, it all matters and nothing goes unseen. The most mundane, ordinary moments of life are so very spiritual. These ordinary, everyday moments reveal the purity of our hearts.
Who are you when no one is looking?
I read once that the best portion of someone's life are the thousands of little, unremembered acts of kindness and love that they did when no one was watching.
Matthew 10:48 “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is My disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
I read a quote a few months ago that said “Increasingly, I am convinced that the Kingdom of Heaven moves forward most enduringly by normal people doing small things over a long period of time.” Meaning, whatever you do in the Spirit of Christ, with a heart that’s been born again and filled with Love everlasting, you are quite literally the face of Heaven amongst those God has placed around you.
We tend to compare our callings to others or compare different seasons of life and ask ourselves “if I am not in a career, in full time ministry, what am I doing with my life?” While some people have that calling from God on their lives, some people’s full time ministry looks like loving their fellow teacher, employer, coworker.
All we are to do is be faithful with the calling that God has placed on our lives. Whether you are a construction worker, stay at home mom, business man, lawyer, etc., you are in full time ministry wherever you are! God is using you to bring Heaven to your home, your cubicle, the job site. Are you being faithful stewards to what and whom God has entrusted to you?
A question I’ve heard echoing in my spirit the last few months is “Have you learned to love?” Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12 “And yet I will show you the most excellent way.” I absolutely love this familiar passage in First Corinthians. Paul is explaining to the church the spiritual gifts when it seems like he takes a rabbit trail to talk about love. I believe what he is emphasizing is that even very outward spiritual things like tongues, prophecies, visions, they will ultimately pass one day, but love will not. Whatever is done in love is eternal. Paul is talking about the Agape love of God that He freely pours into our hearts if we let Him. When we are glorified one day and fully with Jesus, we will not need the gifts, for they will cease, but we will always have Love. And God is continually supplying us with His Agape Love so we can extend love to those around us. That is something I know we will be held accountable for when we meet Jesus. “Did you learn to love those I entrusted to you?”
Prayer
Lord help me to not miss this. Help me to see that everyday you have purposed me to make an impact for the Kingdom. Every encounter with every person is an opportunity to share the love of Jesus, and to love them in a way that provokes them to think of You. Show me how much You love when I am faithful in the smallest every day tasks, that seem so unspiritual and unimportant. Open the eyes of my heart to see things the way You do!
Worship: Jesus Lover of My Soul
Further Study
1 Corinthians 12
Related Posts
I became a mom roughly seven months ago. It has been the greatest seven months of my life. Yes, there have been challenges to work through and it has not always been easy or blissful, but God has shaped, refined, purified my heart in more ways than one. One thing He sure has shown me is the importance of being faithful in the everyday, unseen moments when the only eyes looking at me are my baby’s beautiful big, blue eyes.