women's devotional - "Giving Value"

The ultimate gift in any relationship is value.  Do I assess value to your life, and if so, how much?  Do I give and show to you the same unconditional love that Christ has given and shown me?  Matthew 22:39 tells us to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Do I value you as much as I value myself?  On what basis am I assessing your value? 

It is very easy to learn to judge the world as it rolls across our computer/television screen each day accompanied by commentary biased with very obvious political and personal agendas.  Likewise, it is extremely easy to judge an individual based on the minute piece of their life we see.  We more often than not sum up the value of a person’s life to ourselves and others based on an incomplete picture of them or on a comparison with ourselves or others.

We fail to stop and consider what it would be like for someone to judge us on our “worst hair day” ---- that day when our husband walked out, we received the $100,000 hospital bill, and the principal called us to a meeting at school.  Forget that we graduated sigma cum laude, that we have a successful business, and we have dreams and goals we have not even had a chance to begin working on!  The value of a life cannot be drawn from a brief snapshot.

We also value others more if they are like us.  We fear and assign less value to those who are different from us. And so prejudice of all kinds flourishes and the advancement of both society and God’s Kingdom are slowed to a crawl.

My friend introduced us.  He lived in the backyard of an empty house.  He shared the companionship of a dog, and oh how he loved the Lord!  It was obvious in his conversation, contentment, kindness, and sincerity.  Before leaving, he asked me to pray for him.  I prayed for him not as a homeless person with material needs, but as a person who had a close friendship with God.  With tears in his eyes, he thanked me for praying, most especially for praying for the safety of his dog.  We dropped him off, and as we pulled away, I knew I had just been in the company of someone who is very special to God.  He didn’t need fixing.  He already had everything He needed in a Savior and friend.

Devo by Sonja Fairbanks.

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