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Acknowledging the Value of Someone Else’s Life

By Jean A Sturgill | March 9, 2010

Have you ever watched brothers and sisters at play when they are young? You may have come to realize that as much fun as they have picking at each other – even to the point of arguing, they will turn on a stranger in a heart beat if that stranger gives their sibling a hard time.

What would the world be like if we treated everyone we saw each day as if their life had value? What if we loved them simply because they have life?

Over 30 years ago, I sat in the subway (Metro) in Paris hoping a lost member of our group would show up. While I sat thinking about where our missing person could be, I noticed a man who was quite upset. Someone told me he had been holding a comb and a picture. He had been saying, “Sometimes she loves me. Sometimes she doesn’t.” And he was crying and rocking. As the metro approached soon after that, the man stood up, ran toward the platform and dived in.

His life was changed – ended. The lives of everyone standing there watching was also changed. 32 years later, I still carry that image, although faded, in my mind.

I don’t know who “she” was, and maybe “she” had no idea how upset he was. Sometimes we get so focused on ourselves, we forget about the feelings of others. We forget about encouraging them.

How often do we think about the eternity of people we meet? When that man jumped in front of the metro, his eternity was settled. His options were over. For him, there was no next time.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
John 3:17

If we acknowledge that people have value, and if we give them hope by introducing them to Jesus, I think we’d have a lot less tragedy. When we are talking to someone, we never know if it will be the last time we see that person. Let’s be sure we don’t have any regrets.

We don’t always have to like someone’s actions, but we are to always love them.

We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
1 John 4:19-20

LIFE APPLICATION

Key Focal Verse:

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Psalms 139:14

Our challenge today is to realize that loving our neighbor is as much about an action as it is about an attitude. It is important for us to acknowledge how special life is because God created people, and He loves them. God’s plan includes us letting His love flow through us to others. They need to know God loves them, and He lovingly created them so that they could have a relationship with Him. God is continually reaching out through us to reconcile the lost to Himself.

Topics: Fundamentals, Marriage, Family & Relationships | No Comments »







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