Make them holy by your truth: teach them your word, which is truth. -John 17:17
I believe that at some point in life, we all had a time when we did not feel special. We probably felt useless and worthless. We probably did not know what to do about it. I know I have. I work in a motor bank and I usually don’t have much work to do, if I am not working on school work, watching TV, or reading my bible, then I have nothing to do but wait on customers. Sound fun, right? Who doesn’t like to get paid to do nothing but wait on a customer or two?
Well, I myself do not mind not having any real physical labor, but I do mind feeling useless. My job to me did not make me feel special. I hated having to tell people what I do on a normal basis. Once, I realized that I had no value at my job, it started to make me feel like I had no value in life. I started looking at myself as this worthless person with no meaning or purpose in life. The problem came once I started to accept these thoughts and decided to become content in them. The more I allowed the negative thoughts to live in my mind, the more power I was giving the devil. I was helping by not allowing the truth to consume me.
The truth is we are valuable and we all have a purpose. I decided that I was not just going to sit around and twiddle my thumbs waiting for someone to make me feel valuable, but that, I was going to do something about it. So, I did something about it. I got a new job where I feel part of a team. I went for a job that had goals. I learned that I like having goals to reach. If we do not have goals to reach, at work, school or home, then we tend to do whatever we want.
At a previous bank, I had a goal of 32 accounts to open every quarter. I use to hate it because I felt I was one of those annoying salespeople that everyone hates, you know the ones that constantly hound you about a credit card, but I use to almost double my goal every time anyway. Why did I do that? Most would probably say because you had to for work. Yet, I did not have to. I chose to make my goal and then I chose to double it just for fun. I turned something that I did not like into something fun. Sometimes it just takes a change of perspective and attitude.
Feed the Truth:
For you are a holy people, who belong to the LORD your God. Of all the people on earth, the LORD your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure -Deuteronomy 7:6.
God didn’t create us to be useless or to feel worthless, he created us to be his own special treasure. Each and every one of us has some kind of talent, gift, or skill, he gave us these things so that we can use them to help others and to help ourselves live an abundant life. I had to realize that I am very special to God, I am a servant of his and I have a purpose. My purpose is stated in Jeremiah 32:39, “And I will give them one heart and one purpose: to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants.”
The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. He thought that he could steal my joy by slowly killing my confidence in my work. I had viewed my job as worthless but now that I am leaving, I realized that I added joy, excitement, and positivity into my customer’s lives. I had one customer who never spoke, I actually thought she was a mute until one day I heard her have a conversation on the phone. At first, I was a little upset because I really thought she was mute and because I would speak to her every time, trying to have small talk. I mean come on, I am basically locked in a box all day and sometimes I am there for hours alone, I need people to talk to at times. Instead of being mean to her and not talking to her anymore since she does not speak, I just started complimenting her. My mom always said, “Kill people with kindness.” Now, we have full conversations. It takes wanting to share your joy, happiness, and peace with people that shows how you can help break people out of their own shell
Challenge:
I ask for you to just share a compliment with someone that will make them feel special. If someone has done something excellent for you, express it. Help them to feel like they have a purpose because even if we do not know our purpose in doing these things we will help each other find purpose.