Helpful Love: Sharing and Showing Christ’s Love to Saints and Strangers

Paul’s concern in Romans 12:10–13 centres on authentic love within the body of Christ—love that is genuine and without hypocrisy. Christian love must necessarily be genuine, for, as Martin Luther observes, “Love is never more defiled than when it is tinged with hypocrisy.” William Barclay adds, “Christian love is a love which is cleansed of self. It is a pure outgoing of the heart to others.”

We have so far identified four characteristics of Christian love. The love that Paul envisions is holy (v. 9b), humble (v. 10), heartfelt (v. 11), and hopeful (v. 12). In this post, we consider the helpful nature of Christian love: “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality” (v. 13). This, perhaps more than anything we have considered so far, mirrors God’s own demonstration of love through Christ’s sacrifice.

Jesus himself illustrated helpful love in Matthew 25:31–40, where he identified caring for the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and imprisoned as acts done for him. Love is, in fact, the proof of faithful discipleship (John 13:35).

The Apostle John reinforced this truth:

Paul identifies two aspects or manifestations of helpful love.

First, helpful love shares with the saints. To “contribute” means “to share” or “to partner.” It translates the same Greek word used for fellowship and communion, suggesting an intimate relationship involving shared life. This is not casual charity but deep partnership in burdens and blessings.

The “needs” are those things necessary for body and soul. “Saints” are those elected by God, sanctified by the Spirit, and sprinkled with Christ’s blood (1 Peter 1:2). Our primary responsibility is to fellow believers, particularly those within our local church community.

The early Jerusalem church exemplified this principle: “And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:44–45).

Second, helpful love shows hospitality to strangers. Paul commands believers to “seek to show hospitality.” The word translated “hospitality” literally means “love of strangers.” This hospitality is something that Christian love must actively “seek to” display. It doesn’t happen automatically. It requires vigorous pursuit.

In the first-century context, travelling Christian ministers and missionaries depended on Christian hospitality as they moved from town to town (see 3 John 5–8). Sometimes, they carried letters of commendation, but often they were unknown saints requiring care from local believers. Gaius exemplified this ministry (3 John), as did the church at Antioch, which sent relief to Jerusalem saints they had never met (Acts 11:27–30).

Sacrificial giving isn’t merely a budget issue—it is fundamentally doctrinal. Paul’s exhortation concerning Christian love flows 12:1, which connects practical obedience to the theological foundation of Romans 1–11. Helpful love responds to God’s mercies demonstrated in salvation.

As Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 8:1–5, the Macedonian churches gave sacrificially because they “first gave themselves to the Lord.” When we offer our bodies as living sacrifices, our resources naturally follow. Everything belongs to God; we are merely stewards of his bounty.

Three areas of practical application arise from this exhortation.

First, we learn something about priority in giving. Our generosity should primarily serve the body of Christ. Galatians 6:10 affirms this: “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” While helping all people is good, our first responsibility is to fellow believers in need.

Saints deserve high regard because they are uniquely God’s possession by grace. This should motivate us to prioritise their needs.

Second, we learn something about shared burdens and blessings. True fellowship involves participation in both the mundane and exciting aspects of church life. We must guard against self-absorbed Christianity that focuses only on our own problems while ignoring others’ needs.

Third, the text instructs us about a right spirit. Helpful love must be exercised with proper motivation. We should give “not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). Onesiphorus exemplified this spirit, often reaching out to Paul to meet his needs (2 Timothy 1:16)—not grudgingly but zealously.

Giving with the right heart attitude becomes an act of worship. The Philippians’ support of Paul was described as “a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God” (Philippians 4:18). When we give sacrificially, God promises to “supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Non-hypocritical love is ultimately helpful love. Our giving reveals whether we love money or the Master. The church should be known as a community willing to “contribute to the needs of the saints” and “show hospitality” to strangers.

Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). May believers continue demonstrating love without hypocrisy through sacrificial service to those in need, proving the sincerity of our love for Christ through our love for his people.