Friendship With Those Who Value Us — Morning Devotions

Subscribe to the ‘Morning Devotions’ podcast

Transcript

I want to invite you this morning back to your childhood memories. And who were the best friends you had then and who valued you the most among your friends at school, and what did they do? And are you still keeping in touch with them? So if you had a friend who really valued you, I think you would still want to be a friend with that person.

But if your friends from childhood were just playmates, I guess you’ve lost friendship with most of them because we keep long friendship with people who really value us and I want to talk about this. Everyone wants to feel valued, loved, and connected. We are human beings after all.

It’s interesting that some people will do anything to be noticed in the Guinness Book of Records, for example, there’s an amazing book here filled with entries about people who are wanting to get a place in history. I mean why else would someone balance on 1 foot for 8 hours and 5 minutes like a man called Alan did in March 1975, or push a bed for example, for 1000 miles.

And there’s Mrs. Cathy Perks who actually made a bed in record time. Yes, 39.4 seconds she got the record for making a bed. Anyway, how interesting. Other people refuse to take any thanks for what they do. They don’t want to be noticed. Mother Teresa, for example, what a wonderful woman she was. But here was a saint, a woman who was driven by her love for God and those who were poor and dying.

She was so humble. I mean, people tried to push accolades on her, the world, including actually the Nobel Prize, but she used to refuse to let visitors take her photos, and she said, No, I don’t want that.

She knew that her value came from God and doing His will.

Another interesting film I guess was the film that you probably saw as I did – Forrest Gump. In the school bus he tries to find a seat. No one would offer him a seat. No one wanted to sit next to him, but Jenny invites him to sit with her, and Jenny values him, and I guess she feels that he needs a friend. And so the story is of Forest who keeps his friendship with Jenny throughout the whole of his life. In fact, he holds a deep love for Jenny in spite of her own issues and problems and in the end Forrest Gump’s love prevails when the two come together in marriage and he cares for her so that’s true love where there’s value.

So I want to just put that question to you again. Who do you think truly values you? And maybe it’s your family. there could be people, of course, who have a very warm and secure family where people listen to your opinions. But then again it might be a different story for you as you grew up. You might have the feelings of being unworthy or disappointed.

Hope 103.2 is proudly supported by

But if you had friends and families who recognised your value as a child, then I think you can take courage to face the rough situations. I mean in that Forrest Gump movie, of course he has a mother who values him, encourages him to go out to the world and to do whatever he wants. And so his mother said to Forrest Gump – life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you get until you taste them.

And this friend Jenny, who I mentioned – has a great understanding and appreciation for him.

And I think it’s because of her that he becomes a National Football star, ping pong champion, marathon runner, and so on.

Well, the Bible reminds us that God’s a loving parent who values us with great compassion, and Jesus said, Well, take a look at the flowers that are in the field and the birds in the sky. They don’t do anything, but God cares for them. And Jesus said, this is the key thing here. Are you not much more valuable than they?

So God sees us as very valuable, and I think we need to hear messages like that from time to time.

Let’s Pray

Heavenly Father, we thank you that a long life’s journey – we often have a sense of affirmation and value by people who care. Thank you, Lord, for those people. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Feature image: Canva