Everyone Needs To Feel Important

https://youtu.be/vXR59–U6gc

(James 1:19) “You must understand this, my dear brothers. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.”

(Philippians 2:3-4) “Do not act out of selfish ambition or conceit, but with humility think of others as being better than yourselves. Do not be concerned about your own interests, but also be concerned about the interests of others.”

Do you know how to find out if someone really respects you, or cares about you? It’s very simple. Does he/she take the time to listen to what you have to say? If they take you for granted and don’t really value who you are, then they won´t take the time to listen to your thoughts, learn about you, value your opinion, or even spend valuable time with you.

In a romantic relationship, physical intimacy is not everything. It is also the time one spends with their spouse sharing with each other their dreams, fears, goals, failures, past experiences, expectations from each other, and secrets they have not been able to tell anyone else.

Everyone is concerned about dominating each other instead of lifting each other up. We always want to make sure we are heard, as only our opinion matters, instead of patiently listening.  Always trying to have the last word in a conversation is a clear sign of insecurity, especially during an argument. 

When you ask someone how they are, do you really care or is it just a common question you ask without thinking? Imagine if that person took you seriously and started to share with you all their problems and daily challenges. Would you be able to love them to the point of listening to them without trying to give them advice or correct them? It takes a lot of love just to sit down and listen to someone.

Only when you start thinking about others as better than you, will you be willing to listen to what they have to say and value them. Try doing this with any elderly person, any child, or even a homeless person. Sit down with them and start asking them questions about their day, their experience in life, and their opinion about any issue, and you will see their face shine with joy as you have just made them feel like they are valued and important. Yes, even the homeless have a story to tell and you might learn a thing or two from them.

Jesus spent time with the ones that the religious leaders ignored. He sat down and listened to women, tax collectors, beggars, and those rejected by society because of a disease. He even gave time to listen to children, who are normally considered a nuisance. We need to love like He did and be genuinely interested in what others have to say. This is one of the ways we can show we love someone.

It’s not easy to look at everyone as better than yourself, but it is life-changing both for them and for you.

Prayers

• Jesus, You are the Gift of God, Christ our Passover, The propitiation of our sins.
• Thank You for loving us and becoming flesh to walk the earth in the midst of mankind.
• Thank You for showing compassion and mercy towards the rejected of society.
• We ask that we receive your heart for the lost and for the hurting.
• Give us the ability to love the unlovable and to take time to listen to those that no one cares about.
• Forgive us for being insensitive or too full of ourselves.
• Take away our pride which does not allow us to listen to what others have to say.
• We ask that we will be sensitive to the need in our family, our church and our community to be heard.
• Teach us how to make everyone around us feel valued and important.
• Thank You that we can show Your love to others by simply listening.
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• We ask in Jesus’ Mighty Name. Amen