Monday, March 14, 2011

March 15, 2011

"Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself."  Matthew 22:37-39

Do you remember the first time you felt you really mattered?

If you want to feel like you matter, do something that matters. Jesus tells you what matters most to Him; loving God and loving others.

And, He tells you to love God in a significant way - with ALL your heart, and with your entire soul and with your whole mind. When you do that you will be able to experience His love and receiving His love makes you aware that you matter to Him.

Knowing that you matter to Him changes everything. It changes how you see God. You see Him as a Father and a friend. Having a Father like Him will make you feel like you matter. Knowing Him as a Friend adds significance to your life. Being valued by Him makes you feel valuable. He adds value to everything you do. His mercy and grace releases you from everything that devalued you in the past. The power of His presence dwelling with you gives strength to do things that matter each day. His promises give you hope for future that matters.

Once you find your significance in Him, you will see significance in others. You will treat them with significant kindness and goodness. His love will flow through you toward them. Adding significance to others reflects the love of God in you and adds value to your life.

You can have significance if you make God your Significant Other and love Him supremely.

You can have significance if you live in His love and love others with His significant love.

If you want to know how if feels to matter, do what matters to God.




March 14, 2011

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."  Ephesians 2:10

One of the fears that haunts you is the fear that you will live your life and no one will care. You and I have an inherent need to matter.

Do you matter? Does your life matter? Will anyone care that you showed up on planet earth? Will you leave a thumb print on time? How will eternity be different because you were here?

Have you ever wondered that? Are you struggling with it now?

I often quote my favorite philosopher, my mother, who used to say, "If you could buy him for what he is worth and sell him for what he thinks he's worth you could be a millionaire!"

What she is saying is that value is subjective. It is hard to determine. That contributes to the problem.

If you ask, "Do I matter?", the next question would be, "Matter to whom?"

Who will you allow to determine your value? How will you decide what your life is worth? Where can you go to get an accurate estimate of your worth?

That IS the question, "Isn't it?"

A primary way we determine value in our marketplace is who designed the product and who made it?

If you see labels like "Ford", "Kenmore", "Old Navy", or "Seiko" an item will have one value. But, if you see brands like "Ralph Lauren", "Mecedes", "BMW", or "Rolex" those items will increase in value significantly.

How do you begin your search for significance? Where do you begin to look to determine your value? Look to your label.

Who designed you? Who created you? The answer to that question matters if you want to matter!

Hint: check the Bible verse above.