Will I Ever Be a Person of Value to You?
What does it mean to place value on the lives of others? What does that look like? Is it speaking to them when you see them, even if you don’t want to? Is it more than just not ignoring them when you see them in the store? Is it asking them how they are really doing instead of just the trite question of, ‘how are you?’ What does it look like to place value on the life of another?
There are those in our lives we grew up with, or worked with, who
have in one way or another made a negative impression on us. Maybe they are loud when they talk, or when
they laugh. Maybe they present
themselves as better than others, or maybe others would consider them an
outcast. Maybe you think they are just
weird. Their mannerisms or behaviors are
just odd in your eye, or the eyes of others.
Maybe you witnessed them in a moment of weakness and their behavior was
dramatic. Maybe they appeared to be seeking
attention. Does any of that make them of
any less value? What does God say about
the value of a person? Is one person’s life more valuable to him because of the
way they dress, talk, behave or look?
Romans 5:8
But God proves His own love for us in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!
What does that mean? It means
that even though we sin and will continue to be sinners, God loved us enough to
send his son to save all of us from the eternal Hell we all deserve. He didn’t wait until we all believe in Him or
trusted Him to send his son. He sent
Jesus to save us in spite of all of our failures, in spite of all of our sin,
in spite of our weakness, and in spite of our betrayal of Him. We fail Him daily and yet, he still chose to
send Jesus to save us. That speaks volumes
about His love for us, and the value He places on each of us.
Luke 12: 6-7
Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s
sight. Indeed, the hairs of your head
are all counted. Don’t be afraid; you
are worth more than many sparrows!
I live on a farm. We are
surrounded by nature. Daily I see birds
flying around. They are really of little
significance to me. Each year in the
early spring we have swarms of different types of birds show up. They are fun to watch and many of them
beautiful. When they fly in formation it
is like watching an entire black cloud move in slow motion. The blue jays and red birds are vibrant in
color. But, still they have little
significance on my life. The buzzards,
now, they have a great significance to me.
They aren’t beautiful, though they are majestic in size. They are much larger than the swallows or the
blue jay. Their significance is much
greater when you consider the job they accomplish. They are scavengers. They seek out the nastiest of nasty smells and
devour whatever is producing the scent. While
I don’t like to see several of them flying over the farm, since this is a clear
indicator something has died. I do
appreciate them. A few months back a
motorist hit a skunk on the road in front of our driveway. I was grateful to see the buzzards working
away at their assigned task of eating the skunk. I may not think buzzards are beautiful, and
even though I don’t like to see them, they serve a purpose. Their purpose is to clean up. They eat the dead animals. And help with the terrible odor produced by
those creatures. Buzzards are by no
means beautiful, but when they complete their assigned task they are beautiful
creatures. 
Mark 12:31
The second is: Love your neighbor as
yourself. There is no other command
greater than these.
Do you love your neighbor? Do
you love your family members? Do you
follow this command? This one can be
very difficult to obey. Loving others
isn’t always easy. When people hurt you
or cause you pain it can be difficult to love them. When someone hurts us, we put up defenses to
protect ourselves from the hurt. Whether
that is emotional or physical. If someone
throws a punch at me and makes contact it will hurt. I know that.
My first response will be to try to protect myself. I might put my arm up to protect from the
impact. I might move away from the
punch. But, my initial reaction will be
to defend myself if there is any way possible.
If an attack from someone is emotional, we may respond in a much
different way. The protection might not
be visible to others. We may distance
our self from the attacker. We may
become quiet, we may become emotional and tears may flow. We may even lash out at the person
verbally. All are defense mechanisms
used to protect from the attack. One of
the hardest things to do as a Christian is to love those who hurt us. I have suffered from a deep personal hurt and
understand fully how hard this is. But,
God doesn’t give me an out because someone has hurt me. He commands me to love them, no matter how
hard it is.
When my children were young I reminded them, almost daily of one
truth in particular.
This comes from Ephesians 4:32
And be kind and compassionate to one another,
forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you.
We saw the movie, “The Shack,” last week. It was a good movie. I struggle with the writer’s depiction of
characters. There are some theological issues
with the movie if you try to put it into Biblical context, but, if you look at
it simply as a movie, there is a lot that can be learned. The main point I took away from the movie was
the perspective of judgment. The main
character, Mac, is told to choose which of his children will go to Hell. He is placed in the judgment seat and told he
is the one to decide. He is told he must
choose one of them. Their faults are
pointed out, their wrong doings against their father are detailed. He is told to choose. Who could choose eternal damnation in Hell
for one of their children? Later in the
movie, Mac wants someone who has hurt him deeply to suffer. He wants the person to suffer in Hell. He wants to be the judge. But, he is reminded of his time earlier when
he didn’t want to be the ultimate judge.
He is reminded of the love he has for his children and how he didn’t
want them to suffer Hell. He is reminded
that God doesn’t want any of His children to suffer in Hell. God loves us all as His children.
Mark 11:25
And whenever you stand praying, if you have
anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also
forgive you your wrongdoing.
Who doesn’t want to be forgiven by our Father in heaven? We all sin, we all make bad choices, we all
fall short of God’s glory. We all need
to be forgiven when we have done something wrong.
1 John 1: 8-10
If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving
ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, “We don’t have any
sin,” we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Luke 6:32-42
If you love those who love you, what credit is
that to you? Even sinners love those who
love them. If you do what is good to
those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect
to receive, what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do what is good, and
lend, expecting nothing in return. Then
your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is gracious to the ungrateful and
evil. Be merciful, just as your Father
also is merciful.
James 4:11-12
Don’t criticize one another, brothers. He who criticizes a brother or judges his
brother criticizes the law and judges the law.
But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a
judge. There is only one lawgiver and
judge who is able to save and to destroy.
But who are you to judge your neighbor?
How many of us are guilty of this?
People can be so critical. If you
have ever looked at social media critics are rampant. For every positive comment there is probably
a negative one. What one person finds to
be funny, another person finds offensive or distasteful. And, everyone thinks their opinion matters more
than others therefore, they share that opinion with others. I am learning, my opinion doesn’t matter and
expressing my opinion can often times lead to more harm in my life than
good. I can get spun up, frustrated and
down right disgusted with people over their thoughts and the things they say,
or I can simply be like Elsa, and “Let it Go!”
It isn’t always easy, but when I do, I am certainly happier. Let’s face it. We will never all agree on anything. When someone does something I don’t agree
with, I am not the judge. I am not the
ultimate authority. It is not my job to
tell everyone I know what he or she did.
The ESV version of the above scripture says: Do not speak evil against
one another brothers. When we spread gossip or lies about others how are we
benefited? What do we gain from speaking
about others when they aren’t given the opportunity to defend themselves? Do we see it for what it is when we talk
about another person without full knowledge of their circumstances or the
situation fully? Do we see it as evil as
the Lord describes it? Who are we to spread
lies, half-truths or rumors about someone else?
What gives us the right? We are
not the judge and it isn’t pleasing to him.
It is easy to look at someone’s faults and judge them. But, have you ever really looked at
them. Have you seen through your
judgment to see their heart? Their
hurt? Their life? We have no way of knowing what another has
been through. We make assumptions of how
great someone’s life is based on their outward appearance, behavior, or
demeanor. What if they are going through
a great personal struggle? What does
your judgment or criticism do to help them through this time of need? Do you care?
What are you doing to show them their value when you criticize or demean
them?
Proverbs 15: 1-3
A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh
word stirs up wrath. The tongue of the
wise makes knowledge attractive, but the mouth of fools blurts out
foolishness. The eyes of the Lord are
everywhere, observing the wicked and the good.
This one is hard. Sometimes
the hardest thing to do is hold ones tongue.
Whether that be to speak softly when all you want to do is yell or just
be quiet when you really have a lot to say about the situation. Being quiet isn’t easy. When God asks you to be silent, and there
will be a time that he will, listen to Him.
Heed his warning and be silent.
You may be surprised what you gain from it. The lesson may not be easy,
but He will draw you close to Him and you will know you are loved. Because though you may not feel like you
matter to the people around you, or that you have value in their eyes. You do to your creator. You are more precious than rubies in His
site. When He sees you, He smiles. You are His creation and the only one who can
define you, is the one who created you.
You are a work of art and a child of the King of Kings. Seek him if you do not know Him. For He is the creator of all things and he
wants all the best for you.
Until we meet again
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