#1 Spiritual Habit of Heroes of the Faith

LOVING GOD AND LOVING OTHERS: The Example of Elizabeth Fry

The #1 spiritual habit that heroes of the faith walked in was loving God with all their heart. God’s love then naturally over-flowed to those around them. This love often took them into some of the darkest and most challenging places.

Jesus replied, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  Matthew 22:37-40

The conditions in Newgate, London’s most infamous prison, during the early 1800’s would make anyone cringe. The women’s portion was the most disgusting. Prison reformer, John Howard, took one look at the rat-infested ward with its brawling, drunken, filthy women and their children, and wrote them off as beyond hope, even for God.

However, when a middle-aged mother of eleven, by the name of Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845), visited the prison after being told babes were being born in Newgate without any way to keep them dry or warm, all she saw was a practical need that could be met.

Elizabeth Fry saw past the depravity and was moved by God’s love.

With simple acts of kindness, she brought God’s light into a dark place. She brought hope to women who knew nothing but the harsh realities of poverty and sin. Elizabeth helped them find dignity and worth as she, with the help of friends, brought in diapers and blankets. As Elizabeth found favor with the women, they became open to much needed changes.

During this period in history young children were incarcerated with their mothers if they had no other family to care for them. This meant they were living with drunks, thieves and even murderers. Elizabeth campaigned for much needed reforms such as separating prisoners based on the severity of their crimes; keeping men and women separate; helping oversee the cleaning of the prison wards, educating the women and children, and teaching them skills to provide them with honest trades.

Fighting for these reforms changed how women were treated within the criminal justice system and how they saw themselves. As Elizabeth Fry was able to make positive changes within Newgate, the transformation of the women’s portion was phenomenal. In fact, members of high society visited the prison to witness the changes for themselves.

There was order and cleanliness. Elizabeth read the Bible to the women as they worked. They learned about the love of God through Jesus, and how He died for every person’s sin. Women were finding much needed hope.

The changes at Newgate were gaining more and more attention.

In 1818 Elizabeth Fry became the first woman asked to appear before parliament and present her concerns for much needed reforms. Her description of the depraved conditions within the prison system and her commonsense reforms were influential in the formation of new and more humane practices, not just in Britain but in Europe, as well.

Elizabeth Fry also started night shelters and soup kitchens for the homeless in London, as well as providing standard training for nurses who cared for the sick. This would fulfill a crucial need during the Crimean War and greatly influenced Florence Nightingale, who was mentored by Elizabeth Fry.

I do not believe these changes would have happened if she hadn’t loved God with all her heart. Out of this overflow she found practical ways to love her neighbor as herself.

“Love is the foundation of all that is good, and kindness is a powerful force that can transform lives.”    Elizabeth Fry

We don’t need to do what Elizabeth Fry did, but we are to love God and love others in practical ways, wherever and whenever we have the opportunity.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”                            1 John 4:7&8