Feb
13
2014
A Simple, Selfless Act
Posted in Evangelism 2 Comments
Valentine’s Day is approaching.
Exciting for some.
Difficult for others.
Remember the days in elementary school?
You had to decorate a cereal box that became your own personal mailbox.
It was kept on your desk, or in a special place in the back of the room.
Directions were given.
You may send valentines to your classmates but there must be one for everyone.
It was a way to guarantee that no one was left out.
Mothers traipsed to the store to buy the newest superhero valentines for their sons.
Their daughters usually picked ones with puppies or teddy bears, making the boys cringe.
If you attached candy to the envelope, there had to be enough for everyone.
No one was left out.
Not so when you got to high school.
Then it all began.
The roses, the balloons on the locker, the boxes of candy.
Girls carried around their gifts like trophies.
Popular girls had many secret admirers and some that were not so secret.
It was then that you had a rude awakening: there were the haves and the have-nots.
The girls, with armloads of presents, often needed a lesson in humility.
This was one skill that they would not master until maturity set in.
Or until, one day, they found themselves on the other side.
Facebook has not helped the situation.
It is high school all over again, with pictures of flowers and presents for all to see.
Humility has still not been learned.
Savoring the moment privately and being thankful for it, is far better.
For most, there is no malicious intent to brag.
However, there is a sense of, Look at me!
To many, someone’s Look at me can be very painful indeed.
If you do not have anyone special in your life, Valentine’s Day is just another reminder.
It is the haves and the have-nots all over again.
Someone else must have thought the same thing.
I saw a picture that made my day!
Someone took it upon themselves to let everyone know how special they really are.
Messiah College in Pennsylvania was the setting.
Every mailbox had a colorful post-it note attached to the door.
Every post-it note said, YOU ARE LOVED!
Quietly and humbly the message was sent.
Nothing flashy.
No one left out.
The humble, quiet message was sent and received.
Imagine how that made the girl feel that has no one special to think of her that day.
Imagine how that made the boy feel that is lonely and feeling far from home.
Imagine the message that was conveyed as the students saw their mailboxes.
Someone did something very right!
In a society of Look at me, the ME went away, and for a moment, the focus was on YOU!
YOU ARE LOVED!
There are no names on any mailboxes.
There are just numbers.
No mailbox is better than anyone else; all are opened with a key.
What a key: You are loved!
Can’t you just see the smiles?
Can’t you just see the walls come down and the hard shell cracked just a bit?
A Look at me society that became a Look at YOU!
Our Facebook posts, like our checkbook entries, reflect what is most important to us.
We post pictures of ourselves, always in our best light.
We tell about all of our accomplishments.
We set ourselves apart.
However, in the setting apart, someone else feels left out.
The simple gesture, that must have taken a long time to complete said, Look at YOU!
Look at you!
You are special!
You are loved!
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another…We love because He first loved us.
(1 John 4:7-11,19)
Jesus did nothing to put the focus on Himself.
He constantly pointed to His Father.
Jesus deferred all praise to His Father.
Oh, to be like Jesus.
What if we deferred praise rather than seek attention?
Corrie Ten Boom was a World War II concentration camp survivor.
She and her family hid the Jews from the Nazis in their home.
Years later, as an author and speaker, people would clamor to see Corrie after she spoke.
Corrie said that she returned to her hotel room and got down on her knees.
She would present the compliments that the people just gave to her to the Lord.
She called it giving a “bouquet of praise” to God.
God received a bouquet of praise on a college campus.
A simple, selfless act that spoke volumes without saying a word.
YOU ARE LOVED!
It is about you, not me!
It should never be about me!
How can we change the focus to YOU today and be more like Jesus?
Well said, Gina. it is definitely difficult to be single in a world made for couples. I cried when I read this one. Thank you ~ I needed the reminder even though I know it in my heart.
Karen,
I think we all need the reminder…YOU not ME!
YOU are special. YOU are loved!
Gina