Wednesday, September 2, 2026

For the single person whose love is visible in many lives, but whose worth feels tied to being needed.

Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which when translated, means Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and acts of mercy which she did. In those days, she became sick, and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. As Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. Peter got up and went with them. When he had come, they brought him into the upper room. All the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them.
Acts 9:36–39

“Full of good works and acts of mercy”: is your single life truly offered, or are you quietly using service to prove you deserve a place among people? Tabitha’s coats were tangible love, made and given while she was with them. Yet the passage does not make her work a shield against sickness or death.

You may have rich communal love and honest work, yet still hide inside being needed. Indispensability becomes a locked room. If the garments stop, will anyone stay? That fear turns mercy into a transaction and leaves you unable to receive what you freely give. The widows did not display Tabitha’s work to secure her value. They wept because her presence had become precious.

The disciples sent for Peter and urged him not to delay. The risen Christ stood behind that desperate appeal, and his resurrection power brought Tabitha back through Peter’s ministry. Your usefulness is not the same as your worth before Christ. Let the coats be gifts, not evidence in your defense; can you receive love without first earning it?

Your usefulness is not the same as your worth before Christ.
Prayer

Lord Jesus, free me from making usefulness my refuge, and teach me to receive the love you give through your people.