How should I react to people who have challenges different from my own?

1 Corinthians 12:7A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.

Many of us go through life with the special challenge of a physical, mental, or emotional disability. Yet our disabilities never negate the fact that we are loved and valued by God, who has a unique purpose for each of us. Jesus paid special attention to the disabled, stopping to tend to their bodies, minds, and hearts. He always responded with compassion and mercy, and often with healing. Your response to others with disabilities should be the same. When you look at someone with a disability different from your own, learn to see as God does. We are all God’s children, and equally valued by him.

Matthew 8:1-3Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.

Matthew 15:29-30Jesus returned to the Sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat down. A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all.

Luke 13:10-13One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God!

We should offer whatever friendship, encouragement, and healing we can.