He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. “If anyone causes one of these little ones– those who believe in me– to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Mat 18:2-6).
A little child is one of the least able to contribute to the well being of others, whether it is giving financial or physical help. In fact, children require our constant giving with very little ability to give back. But Jesus says that welcoming one of these little (that is, least able or useful) children, welcomes the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. In other words, the value of what you do is not measured by whether that act brings about some spectacular effect or result. Rather, God is concerned with whether or not you love the people who are not so attractive or lovely.
People have different makeup and personalities. Some can strike up very interesting conversations and some tend to be more quiet. Some are very capable at getting things done to a high level of excellence. Some people are very careful with details while some may miss details. Some people think in ways that most people do and some are different in the ways they communicate matters or view things to the extent that people may even disagree with them strongly. My point is this: everyone is different; some are different in good ways and some in ways that are not right or not spiritual. Do we hence stop loving such people? Jesus says: if you welcome these people who are seemingly not attractive, you welcome the Lord Jesus. If you love them, you are actually loving the Lord Jesus.
Hence, I urge you: do not neglect anyone just because they are different from you. In fact, you will be surprised that when you get to know some people who are different from you, they may be very attractive in their own ways. And that will definitely be the case. Why? Because they too have the life of God, the eternal life of God in them. The Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, that is, the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ and that of the Heavenly Father lives in them. In their lives, they have in them the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. How can they not be attractive and beautiful? No, they don’t look attractive to you because you have misunderstood them. You do not see them as the Lord Jesus Christ sees and loves them. I urge you; do not neglect anyone in church. If you see someone who is neglected, please be kind to that person. Do this: be a bridge between that person and others. Enlarge their circle of fellowship because it is good for brothers and sisters in the Lord to dwell in unity because the blessing of God is there (Psalm 133).