Romans 15:7 "Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God."
I was once asked the questions "Do you feel loved? Do you feel secure? Do you feel significant? Do you feel accepted?", my answer "Well, of course I do". Until August of 2012 I never really thought about what those questions meant. Last August I moved up from recreational soccer to high school soccer. I knew no one on the team, I had never been in a situation where I didn't know anyone and needed to be friends with these people. The soccer season started during a very difficult time in my life where I had been broken and I was in a time of transition. I felt very alone and vulnerable and hurt. None of the girls on my team knew what I was dealing with. I had never felt so loved, secure, or accepted until I met these girls. They immediately accepted me as one of them, I never had to prove myself or really go out of my way to talk to them. They went out of there way to talk to me, love me, and make me feel important. These girls are now my best friends. I didn't know it was possible to feel so loved by people I didn't know. These girls (some unknowingly) helped me through the darkest time of my life. I truly felt loved, secure, significant, and accepted. Now, don't get me wrong, I have a family ,friends, and church who love me, but until that point I had never felt alone and those girls acceptance of me was at a point in my life where I could have walked away from God. I believe that had I not met those girls or had they treated me differently I would be in a very different place in my life. They truly showed me what it means to love others. They treated me as I believe Jesus would have. I have learned so much from their example of reaching out to the "new kid". So today, this week, this school year, reach out to someone. Make them feel like they matter, show them you love them just as they are. Be Jesus to them. You just might be a friend to the friendless. You never know what is going on in someones life, sometimes just being a friend can save a life.
I was once asked the questions "Do you feel loved? Do you feel secure? Do you feel significant? Do you feel accepted?", my answer "Well, of course I do". Until August of 2012 I never really thought about what those questions meant. Last August I moved up from recreational soccer to high school soccer. I knew no one on the team, I had never been in a situation where I didn't know anyone and needed to be friends with these people. The soccer season started during a very difficult time in my life where I had been broken and I was in a time of transition. I felt very alone and vulnerable and hurt. None of the girls on my team knew what I was dealing with. I had never felt so loved, secure, or accepted until I met these girls. They immediately accepted me as one of them, I never had to prove myself or really go out of my way to talk to them. They went out of there way to talk to me, love me, and make me feel important. These girls are now my best friends. I didn't know it was possible to feel so loved by people I didn't know. These girls (some unknowingly) helped me through the darkest time of my life. I truly felt loved, secure, significant, and accepted. Now, don't get me wrong, I have a family ,friends, and church who love me, but until that point I had never felt alone and those girls acceptance of me was at a point in my life where I could have walked away from God. I believe that had I not met those girls or had they treated me differently I would be in a very different place in my life. They truly showed me what it means to love others. They treated me as I believe Jesus would have. I have learned so much from their example of reaching out to the "new kid". So today, this week, this school year, reach out to someone. Make them feel like they matter, show them you love them just as they are. Be Jesus to them. You just might be a friend to the friendless. You never know what is going on in someones life, sometimes just being a friend can save a life.
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