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As children of the Lord who have been forgiven of sin and delivered from
death to life, so to are we to be forgiving towards those who have done
something wrong against us and love unconditionally all who come near to
us. The Lord Jesus Christ as our example forgave the unforgivable, loved
the unlovable, healed and set free those who were bound and simply cared
for all who came to Him in need. As His followers on the earth, we must
have the same love, care and respect and treat all people as we would like
to be treated. The Lord Jesus declares in John 15:13 “Greater love hath
no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” The
believer’s testimony is a reflection of his heart and will bear the fruit
that is dominant in his being. If love is in your heart, then it will be
shown through your actions. (Ephesians 2:4-7) (1 John 3:14-15) (Matthew 7:16-20)
I hope you are challenged and inspired by this message to be an example of
God's love on the earth and do what would be pleasing to your Heavenly Father.
THE WORTH OF A SOUL
By the time Helen was eighteen months old, her eyes were a bright blue,
and her hair was a gold red. By the time her eyes grew from sky-blue to
sea-green, I was certain that she would be a rare beauty. However, Helen's
personality and innate kindness would always outshine her physical beauty.
The camera has always adored Helen, while her smile reflects an incredible
love that clings to every fiber of her being.
By the time Helen was three years old, she had already developed an unusual
logic that made perfect sense to her. Of course she must give away her
favorite teddy bear to a child who needed it more than she did.
By the time she was in kindergarten, it seemed perfectly natural for her to
love the unlovable, including the teacher who struck fear within the hearts
of other students. Helen was quite certain that teacher was delighted to
be with her, and by the second week of school, Helen, literally, had her
eating from her grimy, little hands.
By second grade, Helen had become the champion of the weak, the hope of the
hopeless, and she did it all with a selfless grace, that was nothing short
of miraculous. By the time Helen was in high-school, it was pretty
evident that we would be barraged with a house full of teenagers of every
shape, creed, and ethnicity.
I still have the pictures from one of Helen's birthday parties. There is
the boy who needed to check in with his parole officer, before the cake was
cut, and the girl, who couldn't drink iced-tea, because of her religion.
Then there's the boy whose parents had escaped from Vietnam when he was a
baby, and the girl whose father was a Taiwanese diplomat. It was an
incredible feat of persuasion, just to round up all the kids for a one of
a kind picture. It took three snap-shots to complete the picture. What an
unforgettable sea of grinning faces peers out from those pictures, as
though the United Nations had dropped off all its teenagers at our house,
for a day of ice-cream and cake.
In the fall of her sophomore year, Helen and I found ourselves out shopping
the malls for school clothes. I was doing some inventive arithmetic and
brainstorming, trying to make our budget stretch into something that would
delight and be affordable. At one point, I began to notice that a man and
a girl were moving straight towards us. The man was dressed in work
clothes, and he seemed to be encouraging a rather sad, overweight youngster
closer to us. I could identify with the girl. I looked back upon my
teen-age years as regrettable. These two seemed to be disagreeing, and were
almost upon us.
Helen had just finished exchanging greetings with one of her countless
squealing friends, and as she turned around, she came face to face with the
reluctant teenager. Faster than the speed of light, Helen's eyes sparkled
with delight and recognition. Her face broke into a brilliant smile, and
she shrieked with joy!
“Cindy!!!” she squealed, as she threw her arms around the chubby girl's neck.
Suddenly, Cindy's face broke into a beautiful smile, and she squealed right
back at Helen. Then they both did this hand-holding dance, while grinning
and shrieking with delight.
Cindy was transformed from a rather sad, “just-like-I-was” kid, into the
vivacious young girl she truly was meant to be. Cindy and Helen chattered
away, totally oblivious to Cindy's father and I, as we stood amazed. Who
was this unconsciously, generous, loving daughter of mine? How had God
graced my life with something so bright and beautiful? How different my
life might have been had there been a Helen to accept and love me as a
teenager. When I turned back to Cindy's father, I saw his face transformed
from frustration and sadness, to one of joy.
Cindy had seen Helen, he confided, long before Helen spotted her. She had
identified Helen as “one of the popular girls.” As Cindy's father
encouraged her to speak to Helen, Cindy refused. Why would a somebody, she
reasoned, want to talk to a nothing? Cindy's father had felt helpless to
make his daughter believe how precious she truly was. Helen, in one
unpretentious act, had given Cindy a priceless gift of unconditional
friendship and self-esteem.
Cindy's Dad's eyes shone with pride and gratitude, but no more than my
gratitude for Helen. I learned a great lesson that day. I learned that
true friendship does not measure another with criticism, because the worth
of a soul is not in the eye. It's in the heart.
By Jaye Lewis
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
John 14:15-17 Jesus declares “If ye love Me, keep My commandments. And I
will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may
abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him;
for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”
1 John 4:10-13 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved
us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God
so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at
any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is
perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us,
because He hath given us of His Spirit.”
Psalm 40:1-4 “I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined unto me, and
heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the
miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And He
hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see
it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. Blessed is that man that maketh
the LORD his trust...”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today’s Selected Poem: MY BLESSED FELLOWSHIP
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem101.htm
Today’s Selected Testimony: THOUGH THE SAIL HAS BEEN TORN...
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony42.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
Gods Work Ministry |
