Clothed to Care

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A journey to healing, deliverance and freedom, by grace through faith, to manifest the good, pleasing and perfect will of God in our spirit, soul and body.

Day 3- Ephesians 4:17-32

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Glory to God. Okay, this evening again, we're going to be praying or talking about praying or things associated with those who are in health care. We're going to be taking a look at Ephesians chapter 4, verses 17 to 32. And I've entitled this Clothed to Care. Clothed to Care. So in Ephesians 4, uh verses 17 to 32, we are called as believers to leave behind our former ways of thinking and living. And the Bible tells us to put on the new life that we find in Jesus Christ. Paul teaches us that this transformation begins with the renewing of the mind and becomes visible in how we speak, how we work, manage our emotions, and treat other people. We are instructed to replace falsehood with truth, uncontrolled anger with self-control, and harmful words, glory to God, with words that will minister grace. Bitterness, malice, and emotional hardness must give way, he says, to kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. We are also reminded not to grieve the Holy Spirit who guides and strengthens us as we try to live out this new identity in Christ. Now, for healthcare workers and all who care for others, this particular part of the scripture provides a model, if you will, for serving people with wisdom, integrity, tenderness, and grace. And so before they enter into those places and spaces of illness or trauma or grief or crisis, they must inwardly be prepared and clothed to care. So our question this evening is what do healthcare professionals need to put on spiritually before caring for people who might be physically ill, emotionally wounded, mentally distressed, frightened, grieving, overwhelmed, or navigating difficult circumstances? I'm so glad you asked. Okay, so they have to prepare, if you will, to provide health care, right? Healthcare professionals prepare for their work in different ways. And I'm talking about now in the natural, and they carry different tools, and we've seen many of them, depending on the type of care they provide. So in some cases, it might be scrubs or gloves, masks, all those medical kinds of things, right? Uh maybe a stethoscope, uh, you know, any kind of medical instrument. It might be laptops or telehealth equipment, right? It might be community resource directories and referral information. It might be a simple box of tissues, it might be a chair and a welcome, right? Some sort of confidential space. It might be a notebook, a therapy journal or counseling material. So these are some of the things that healthcare providers use. These are some of their equipment. So they prepare themselves once again before entering a patient's room or a counseling office, a treatment center, a family home, maybe even a virtual session here in 2026. But Ephesians chapter 4 reminds us that there is another kind of preparation. This is the preparation of the heart. This is a preparation of the mind, right? So before put on the gloves or open a case file, right? They're going to put on compassion, if you will. Before they pick up a stethoscope, glory to God, they're going to review or review a treatment plan or listen to someone's pain, they're going to put on wisdom. Before they speak to a frightened patient, a distressed client, right? They need to put on words that are going to minister grace. So again, before they enter these spaces, what do they need God to clothe them with? And it's only God that can do that. And I believe Pastor Reggie uh alluded to it this morning about staying in that place of connection with God because it's so important. And he said, the minute that we get busy out the door, right? I believe that was Sam and I listen to so much sometimes, but uh the prayer is the first to go. Glory to God. So, in other words, what do they need to be fully clothed, to be able to fully administer that care? And again, Ephesians 4, 17 to 32 gives us some insight and some instruction. So, what I want to do is identify the type of spiritual clothing according to the verses in this book of Ephesians, chapter four. I may not get to all of them, but I'll try. Um, I also want to suggest some things that we can pray for them, for those who are in healthcare. And that at the end, if there's time, we got a little bit of a call and response prayer, but I think I might leave that until we actually close out. So, what do they need to be clothed with? Let's talk first about a renewed mind. Ephesians 4 and 23 uh uh refers to this. So healthcare workers are constantly processing information, making decisions, responding to emergencies, listening to difficult experiences, right? Navigating all these complex circumstances. So when they are interpreting these kinds of things, evaluating somebody's mental state, right, they need to have renewed minds. That's a lot coming in. So, by way of suggestion, we can pray for their mental clarity during long shifts. We can pray for their mental clarity during counseling sessions or crisis calls, right? Or maybe they have a demanding caseload, right? We can pray for sound judgment when decisions have to be made rather quickly. We can pray for protection from mental and emotionally exhaustion. Think for a minute how exhausting that could be when you're giving out emotionally all day long, when you're giving out mentally all day long. Glory to God. Another thing that they can put on is the truth that is spoken with compassion, spoken in love. This is more of their clothing, according to Ephesians chapter 4. So they have to differ uh communicate some pretty difficult terms, right? So in a case of a physician, he or she might have to explain a diagnosis. A psychiatrist may discuss a mental health condition or medication, a case manager might have to discuss difficult choices with a family. So in that case, we can pray once again that they'll speak the truth clearly, gently, but most of all respectfully in love. They can listen. We pray that they're listening as they are listening carefully before responding. Maybe um when they um help people, glory to God, face certain realities, they don't want to strip them of their hope. So there's a way to say it, right? Say it in love. We can also uh learn from Ephesians chapter 4 that if there is anger, and they get angry like everybody else, that anger should be placed under God's control. This is Ephesians 4, 26 to 27. And in some cases, they might be facing verbal abuse, maybe unreasonable demands, inadequate staffing. You all kind of know the drill a little bit, overwhelming caseloads, right? Heartbreaking outcomes and systems that prevent them from providing the level of care that's needed in a certain case. A counselor may encounter resistance, a social worker might be blamed for circumstances beyond his or her control. So, what can we do? We can pray that their anger does not become harsh treatment of the patients or the clients. We can pray that anger does not become impatience, right? With people who are frightened, resistant, or overwhelmed. And I'm gonna move right on down to the next one because I'm running out of time. We can pray that their hands are strengthened for service. We find this in Ephesians 4 and 28. It talks about doing honest work, if you will, with one's hands that others might benefit, right? And their hands might examine and treat, perform procedures, their hands might write counseling notes or document assessments, their hands might answer crises calls and telehealth appointments. So some hands perform, you know, sort of medical kinds of things, but other hands are more um physical in the way of handling materials. But we simply want to pray for them that they have the courage to sort of handle those things with care and to continue to serve in love. We want to pray that their words, or one of the things that they also want to put on is this idea that uh the words that they're speaking, because words will give grace if they're spoken the right way. Ephesians 4 and 29 tells us that it may minister grace unto the hearers, and we're familiar with that, right? And we know that words can greatly affect a person's experience when it comes to illness or trauma or grief or some sort of mental crisis or uncertainty, right? You don't want to be have a situation where a rushed, dismissive, or judgmental response that just deepens the person's fear, right? Or deepens their shame. We want to think about thoughtful responses that will restore dignity to a person, that will give them hope, that will provide them with courage. So we can pray that healthcare workers will have calming words for frightened patients and distressed clients. We can pray that they have encouraging words for tired co-workers, because we all get tired. Amen. Or wise words when there are no easy answers. And here's a big one: part of their clothing involves a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. This is Ephesians 4 and 30. Christian health care workers, any workers, because we're all here to serve, we all need the Holy Spirit's guidance during uh whatever the situation is. In their cases, it might be appointments or counseling sessions, home visits, case conferences, emergencies, whatever it happens to be. So we can pray for the Holy Spirit to bring important details. He said he would bring all things back to our remembrance, right? As we acknowledge him. So bring important details back to their attention, right? Restrain impatient, defensive, or judgmental reactions. Glory to God. Guide them in asking the right questions, but their sensitivity, even in that. I'm gonna jump down to my next one. We want to uh consider the fact that they should put have protection from bitterness and emotional hardness, right? Ephesians 4 and 31 tells us that healthcare workers can also become emotionally hardened. I hadn't thought about that. Not because they don't care, but because caring can become painful, even for them, right? It might be somebody else. They might be carrying grief over patients that they weren't able to save or memories of traumatic situations, right? And heartbreaking stories. Perhaps there's discouragement there when a patient or client maybe relapses, withdraws, or refuses to help, or I'm sorry, refuses, refuses help, excuse me. So those are some of the things that um came to uh my attention as I was kind of digging this up a little bit, things that we don't even consider, especially when you're not in that particular field. And I've got one more, and that's kindness and tender-heartedness. This comes from Ephesians 4 and 32. Tender-heartedness is indispensable in any situation. I don't care what you do. So those who serve, and that includes all of us, you know that we are or should be serving, right, with compassion, glory to God, without taking on everybody's burden. So we could pray that they'll treat every patient with dignity and with care, that they're patient with frightened patients, distressed clients, and overwhelmed families, and that they'll listen without rushing judgment. And with that, I will yield, and we can do the call and response when we come back.