How Your Love of Knitting Can Be A Christian Ministry

Are you a person of faith who has felt a restless longing to serve in a powerful way?

Are you a person of faith who can’t help feeling anxious at the idea of sharing your faith with others?

Do you have a passionate love of knitting?

Did that last question feel like it came out of nowhere? I get it. Sometimes it’s hard for people of faith to connect one of their favorite pastimes with a genuine way to live out the greatest callings of their faith.

Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be the case.

Knitting Can Act as Christian Service & Witness

You will have seasons of life in which it feels all but impossible to serve on a regular basis. Your schedule is packed. You have so many obligations. You have little ones who need your attention 24-7. Or you have a job that requires you almost constantly.

This is exactly the sort of lifestyle for which charity knitting was made.

You’ll also have seasons in your life when you have nothing but time. Perhaps you’re recovering from illness or injury. Maybe you’re a newly empty-nester or a retiree. And you worry that your time for serving has passed. Now that you have all the time in the world, does anyone need you anymore?

Guess what? This is also the exact sort of lifestyle for which charity knitting was made!

Because whether you have a ton of time or very little time, you can put your favorite hobby to use in the service of others. Literally knitting as Ministry.

Allow me to offer you two biblical principles that show the beauty of charity knitting and how it relates to both witness and service.

Witness Through Work as Unto the Lord

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the LORD, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the LORD as a reward. It is the LORD Christ you are serving.

Colossians 3 v23-24 (NIV)

Occasionally, knitting becomes trendy. About every other year, I receive blog posts and articles from friends eager to show me that “hey look, knitting is cool right now!”

And then I read about everyday people who knit shawls for self-care or scarves to unwind after a hard day of work. I also read about celebrities who love to knit (and of course use super-expensive yarn and artisanal needles).

I’m not criticizing any of this. Knitting does make wonderful self-care. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve reached for my yarn and needles when I need to de-stress. And celebrities need self-care too – and that super-expensive yarn often comes from struggling yarn companies, so I’m not about to knock that either.

What I am pointing out, though, is that using our precious time to knit for people in need is downright counter-cultural!

Consider the statement you offer when you’re spending your free time doing this:

* Knitting soft hats for chemotherapy patients

* Knitting tiny hats, booties, and blankets for premature infants (or, sadly, stillborn babies)

* Knitting hundreds of squares that will be sewn into blankets to cover homeless folks and/or people living in desperate poverty

* Knitting shawls, scarves, and other comfort items for survivors of domestic and sexual abuse

* Knitting prosthetic breasts for breast cancer survivors who’ve undergone mastectomies

And this barely scratches the surface of the many knitting charities you’ll find around the world. Nor do these reflect the hundreds of knitting projects that are possible to create for people in need.

I believe there’s someone who needs what you love to knit

My motto is I believe there’s someone who needs what you love to knit, and it’s been true for as long as people have used sticks and yarn to create warm, comfortable clothing and coverings.

When you’re using your free time to create for people who need what you love knitting… instead of spending all your time on creating gorgeous things for yourself… you make a statement.

That statement: God created these people in His image. God called me to love my neighbor. And so, I knit for my neighbor.

Now that, my friends? That’s witness. That’s knitting as ministry

Serving Through the Work of Your Hands

In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. … Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

Acts 9 v36 & 39 (NIV)

Tabitha, also called Dorcas, is one of my very favorite characters in the entire New Testament. We’re introduced to her only briefly in the book of Acts, as she is a faithful disciple of Jesus who Peter raised from the dead.

And how do we know she was a faithful disciple? It says so right here, in these two verses.

1) She was always doing good and helping the poor.

During Jesus’ time on earth, He consistently stated that his mission was “to bring Good News to the poor.” Tabitha lived this out by doing all she could to help the poor.

2) The widows loved her because of all the clothes she had made for them.

The scene right before Peter raises Tabitha from the dead is heart-rending. The widows who filled Tabitha’s home were obviously women whom Tabitha had befriended. And if you know anything about ancient Israel, you know that during those times widows were often left destitute.

Tabitha cared for these widows, making clothing for them that they could not purchased for themselves.

For all we know, the widows may have even been living in Tabitha’s home as well. We simply don’t know. But we do know that Tabitha took care of them, and at least one of those ways was through making clothing for them.

Knitting IS a Christian Ministry

Could anything be clearer? Making clothing for people in need is a beautiful act of service blessed by God.

So if you love to knit, and you’re a Christian who longs to serve as well as to witness to the glory of God? Charity knitting could be the perfect match for you!

Editor’s Note: Read from Nicole in the post: God Calls Us To Be Creative: How Creative Pursuits Can Help You Navigate Life’s Challenges