As you know, I like to challenge myself with something
out of my comfort zone; or, something I think is a need in the world from time
to time. This past month I challenged myself to show my appreciation to at
least 1 person every day. I may have said "I appreciate you" face to
face, given someone a gift, or sent a text to someone. A few things happened
when I did this.
1. The person ignored it. Maybe she/he didn't know how to answer. Or, she/he looked at it and moved on with her/his day.
2. The person said thank you.
3. The person said thanks and said she/he was thankful for me too. Then we started talking more about how things were going in our lives.
4. The person said thank you and then asked if I was leaving somewhere or dying.
I found all of these responses interesting. However, one of the more interesting is that people thought something bad was happening to me. I think that people are not used to getting random notes of appreciation so they assume the worst. What if we made if so that everyone felt appreciated every day? What would the world be like? Now, I'm not saying we should appreciate to the point of people feeling that they are the greatest thing since sliced bread. But, people should feel loved.
Philippians 2:3-4 says: "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." We are all unique. We have different abilities, interests, and talents that God has given us. What if we focused on appreciating other's abilities, interests, and talents instead of tearing them down? What if we were thankful for those people and things we have in our lives? I encourage you this thanksgiving to show your appreciation, not just for what you have in your life, but also for who is in your life.
Image from here.
1. The person ignored it. Maybe she/he didn't know how to answer. Or, she/he looked at it and moved on with her/his day.
2. The person said thank you.
3. The person said thanks and said she/he was thankful for me too. Then we started talking more about how things were going in our lives.
4. The person said thank you and then asked if I was leaving somewhere or dying.
I found all of these responses interesting. However, one of the more interesting is that people thought something bad was happening to me. I think that people are not used to getting random notes of appreciation so they assume the worst. What if we made if so that everyone felt appreciated every day? What would the world be like? Now, I'm not saying we should appreciate to the point of people feeling that they are the greatest thing since sliced bread. But, people should feel loved.
Philippians 2:3-4 says: "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." We are all unique. We have different abilities, interests, and talents that God has given us. What if we focused on appreciating other's abilities, interests, and talents instead of tearing them down? What if we were thankful for those people and things we have in our lives? I encourage you this thanksgiving to show your appreciation, not just for what you have in your life, but also for who is in your life.
Appreciation is so rare that many people have difficulty knowing what to do with such acknowledgement. The same is true with words of encouragement. People often feel encouraging words are nothing more than an attempt to soften them up to ask for something. Thanks for the biblical challenging posts. I do appreciate them...and you. Have a great day in the Lord, my sister in Christ!
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