Valued and Cherished

Brennan Manning wrote much about

the transforming power of God’s love.

But he also wrote the following:

"This marvelous revelation [of love] 

will fall on ears that do not hear 

and eyes that do not see,

unless some other human beings

refresh the weariness of my defeated days.

We can only sense ourselves and

our world valued and cherished by God,

when we feel valued and cherished by others."

Glimpse of Jesus

Oh, the thousands of times that

friends have refreshed the weariness

of my defeated days!

We all have days where we feel

just a little bit beat up,

a little discouraged, a little down,

a little hopeless, a little like giving up.

Some days not so little.

I am so grateful that God promises never
to leave me and that He is there always.

On those days I can cry out to Him, 

and He brings that sense of peace 

in the midst of the storm.

But while I know this is always true,

I sometimes haven't been able

to sense that presence.

There are times that I have been 
overwhelmed and fearful.

Defeated days.

On those days, God graciously gave me
the gift of being refreshed by others,

extensions of His love, grace and mercy.

I am eternally grateful for those

who have been Christ to me. 

We have the power to make someone’s life better.

Without any cost, we can offer the gift of kindness,

the gift of encouragement, the gift of compassion.

We can say to someone, though our words and deeds,

“You are so important and I treasure you.”

Relationships are an eternal reward that

we get to build in our temporal world.

Let us think of ways to motivate

 one another to acts of

love and good words.

Hebrews 10:24

As we consider how to motivate one another,

let us remember the power of our words,

the power of kindness, compassion, forgiveness,

mercy, grace and love.

Let us intentionally let others know that 
they are valued and cherished by God.

I want to see treasure all around me

in an even greater way.

Because what we treasure,

we value and cherish.

By valuing and cherishing others,

we can refresh the weariness

of defeated days

and point others towards

the love of God.

Our great privilege of living loved--

by God and others.