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We should always be appreciative and show our gratitude towards those who
have helped to make us better. We need to make known the good deeds that
others have bestowed upon our life letting them know of the positive impact
that they've had on our lives so that they may be encouraged and remember
that their work was never in vain. We shouldn't assume that they know
they're appreciated, but rather we must take the initiative to let them
know that we love them and that they are greatly appreciated and thought
of. Be encouraged to allow your light to shine towards those who have in
times past shined their light upon your life. In doing so you will be
encouraging and uplifting those who took the time to encourage and uplift you.
I hope you are challenged and inspired by today's message to do unto others
in kindness and encouragement as they once did unto you.
JOGGING YOUR MEMORY
When William Stidger taught at Boston University, he once reflected upon
the great number of unthanked people in his life. Those who had helped
nurture him, inspire him or cared enough about him to leave a lasting
impression.
One was a schoolteacher he'd not heard of in many years. But he remembered
that she had gone out of her way to put a love of verse in him, and Will
had loved poetry all his life. He wrote a letter of thanks to her.
The reply he received, written in the feeble scrawl of the aged, began,
“My dear Willie.” He was delighted. Now over 50, bald and a professor, he
didn't think there was a person left in the world who would call him
“Willie.” Here is a copy of that letter:
“My dear Willie,
I cannot tell you how much your note meant to me. I am in my eighties,
living alone in a small room, cooking my own meals, lonely and, like the
last leaf of autumn, lingering behind. You will be interested to know that
I taught school for 50 years and yours is the first note of appreciation I
ever received. It came on a blue-cold morning and it cheered me as nothing
has in many years.”
Not prone to cry easily, Will wept over that note.
She was one of the Great Unthanked People from Will's past. You know them.
We all do. The teacher who made a difference. That coach we'll never
forget. The music instructor or Sunday school worker who helped us to
believe in ourselves. That scout leader who cared.
We all remember people who shaped our lives in various ways. People whose
influence changed us. Will Stidger found a way to show his appreciation --
he wrote them letters.
Who are some of the unthanked people from your past? It may not be too late
to say, “Thanks.”
Author Unknown
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
1 John 4:7-8 “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and
every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not
knoweth not God; for God is love.”
Romans 12:15-17 “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them
that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things,
but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of
all men.”
Hebrews 13:1-3 “Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain
strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them
that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as
being yourselves also in the body.”
John 15:11-13 Jesus says “These things have I spoken unto you, that My Joy
might remain in you, and that your Joy might be full. This is My
commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today’s Selected Poem: PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/inpoem84.htm
Today’s Selected Testimony: THE LORD WILL HELP YOU THROUGH
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony129.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
Gods Work Ministry |
