‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ -Matthew 25:40

The above scripture is profound in that it doesn’t imply that what we do to Him is LIKE doing it to Him. What we do to “the least of these” we DO to Him.

This is a helpful reminder as we interact with humanity. Amidst our frustration, preferences, and opinions about how people SHOULD be, how people SHOULD behave, SHOULD live, we need to remember we aren’t off the hook. Our busyness and impatience don’t relieve us of our duty to love our neighbor, even the “least” one.

Meditating on this in my heart this morning, it occurred to me what He didn’t say in this passage.

He didn’t say, “whatever you do to the least of these people who believe in me”, He said “least of these” (someone who’s soul is lost and they don’t know it seems “least of these” to me). This soul that hasn’t acknowledged Christ is still who we are impacting AS Christ, IS Christ.

Whatever we do to anyone, whether they’re conscious of their relationship to Christ or not, we do unto Him. The implication: He is in all of us. Even, perhaps especially, the least of these. Even when we don’t “know”, He is all and is in all.

“Christ is all and is in all” taken a step farther: Christ IS all of us, me, YOU; and is IN all of us, whether we’ve consciously received the grace to believe it or not. What this means for the eternity of those who don’t choose Christ in this life, I truly don’t know. But knowing Christ is in every single human I interact with, including me, I’m eternally hopeful for us all.

Perhaps the act of loving the Christ inside a “lost cause” is actually the force that allows them to see the Christ inside of them too.

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.” -John 14:6