APPRECIATE ONE ANOTHER

As I was checking my face Book postings this morning,I saw a pic of Mike & Shirley Catalono,and though I don't know them both extremely well,I do get a very strong sense that they truly appreciate each other.I believe they not only appreciate each other ,but they have a strong sense of appreciation for God and the people that He has surrounded them with,along with all that He has brought them through,hence inspiring this blog posting.

When we think of the word appreciation our hearts should swell with a spirit of praise and thanksgiving. A spirit of praise and thanksgiving should constantly be on our lips as we meditate on all that Christ has done for us. if we are honest we would have to admit that we seldom truly comprehend all that Jesus did for us. But even though we don’t understand it all, we should be ever so thankful! We should appreciate Jesus!!! Amen.!!

Now with that thought in mind that,do we appreciate Jesus and all that He has done for us, let’s take this idea of appreciation to another level. It says in 1 John 4:20, If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
“” Now let me take some poetic license with this verse without robbing it of it’s’ integrity. If a man say, I appreciate God, and does not appreciate his brother, he is a liar; for he that appreciate not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he appreciate God whom he hath not seen.

God is saying to us, as followers of Christ, that we need to learn to show each other that we appreciate them. God is not just talking about the cursory ‘thank you’ that we teach our children to say or that we say ourselves. But God is talking about speaking and showing appreciation that comes from our hearts. When I think of someone putting voice to their appreciation I think of the words of Ruth to her mother-in-law “ Ruth 1:16-17

16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.”
This young woman was speaking words of appreciation to her mother-in-law. She loved her! They had gone through some good times and so extremely hard times with her. Ruth and Naomi were there for each other when Naomi’s husband died. They were together when both of Naomi’s sons had died, one of which had been Ruth’s own husband. They were together when they were struggling, wondering how they were going to survive, emotionally and financially. And when Naomi finally felt as though she had had enough and wanted to return to her own homeland, Ruth insisted on going back with her. Why? Because she had grown to love and appreciate this woman, a bond had grown between them that was not a bound of blood but a bond of love!

Jesus tells us in His word “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” By this the world can see the love that we have for one another, when we live a life of appreciation. ‘how do I do that?’ In order to answer that question,I'm going to make an “acrostic” out of the word “appreciate “and see what we can learn from that.

A – acknowledge that there is a need to show appreciation. If you don’t acknowledge that there is a need, you are just going to keep on doing things the same old way. Everyone wants to be shown that they are appreciated, that they are valued. That what they think or feel counts for something. When you don’t let a person know that you appreciate them, you devalue them.

P – (2 p’s), plan to please them. You make plans to do things to please them. You make plans to do things that they want to do (even when you really don’t). Appreciation should not only be a spontaneous thing, but to really show appreciation you need to put some planning into it.

R – respect. You can not show a person that you appreciate them if you do not respect them. Showing respect to one another seems to be a lost art in today’s society. Unfortunately this is even true among believers, among people who go by the Name of Christ. I remember as a child hearing an old cliché that says ‘you have to GIVE respect to GAIN respect. You can’t say that you appreciate your mate, if you don’t show them respect. You say to yourself, ‘yes,,,, Tim,,, but respect has to be earned. And my mate constantly does things that make me lose respect for him/her.’ Well, let me just drop something into your spirit for a moment. What if I told you that as a child of God you can choose to respect the position even if you don’t truly respect the decisions that they have made? And then God can take your choice of choosing and use it to turn that person around to make them into one that you can respect. Does that make sense to you? You say ‘what do you mean, choosing to respect the position even though you don’t respect their decisions or actions.’

Okay, what if President Obama visited this church. But, say, you were at odds with some of the decisions that he has made. You don’t respect his decision on abortion rights, gay marriages, etc. But even though you didn’t respect his decisions you would still respect him as a person because of the position or office that he holds. Are you starting to get the picture? In order to show a person that you appreciate them you have got to show them that you respect them.

E – edify. The word edify means to encourage or to build up. You can't appreciate someone if you are constantly tearing them down. Whether you are tearing them down in your heart and your mind or if you are tearing them down to someone else. God tells us in His word that we are to encourage one another, stroke one another, build one another up! You know, my brothers in sisters in Christ, its bad enough when the world tears us down. But it’s even worse when a brother or sister in Christ does the same thing. Are you an encourager? Do you look for something good that you can say about or to the other person? Can they count on you to speak a kind and loving word to them? When they are hurting, can they count on you to build them up? God tells us in Roman 15:2 “Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.”

C – comfort/counsel. Showing appreciation means that you are to be there to comfort them when they are hurting, when the world has left them battered and bruised. You are to comfort them when they are sad. When life has given them a bunch of lemons and they have not yet learned how to make lemonade! But not only do you offer them comfort, you need to be able to give them wise counsel when they are lost or confused. Some people think comfort only involves trying to make a person feel good, but it is equally true that giving comfort involves giving counsel. Wise, spiritual counsel based on the Word of God. You can’t show a person that you appreciate them without being willing to offer them counsel even when they don’t want to hear it!!!

I – involved. You have to be willing to be involved in their lives. I wonder if we know what it means to be involved in someone’s life. God is not talking about being involved as a busy-body or a know-it-all. Being involved means being able to identify with them. To identify with them to the point that you feel their pain when they are sad, and you feel their joy when they are happy. In marriage it also means being involved with the children, being involved with the housework, being involved in the decision making process in your lives. You can not say that you appreciate someone and you are not willing to be involved in the things that interest them, when you are not willing to be involved in their lives.

A – action. Appreciation involves action. There is no appreciation if there is no action. You’ve got to put feet to your words, muscles to you faith, etc. Or that old adage – ‘put your money where your mouth is…’ Don’t just say that you appreciate the other person, put it into action!!!

T – tell the other person often that you appreciate them. Tell it! It’s nice to hear. Speak the words to the other person. Let them know verbally just how important they are to you. Tell it/ talk it/live it! Oh, how good it is to hear words of praise instead of words of condemnation all the time.

E – eternal life. If I really appreciate you and are thankful that you are in my life, I will not only want you near now but also in eternity. So if you appreciate someone, tell them about Jesus. Lead them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ so that you can share eternal life together.

Jesus said that the world would know us by our love, by the way we treat and appreciate one another. Thank you Jesus. All these things that God just reveals to us about showing appreciation not only applies to our family and our brothers and sisters in Christ, but they also apply to our relationship with God. We can take each one of these letters in this “acrostic” and show Jesus just how much we appreciate Him!!!
Blessings!!