Appreciation is a learned trait so our goal should be to learn to live a lifestyle of appreciation, right where we are, on the way to where we are going. Now, we have all been on the wrong end of this issue. We have all felt at times like we are not being properly appreciated. Maybe even taken advantage of. How does that feel to not be appreciated? Now here are some thoughts and questions for you along this line.

 You Are Appreciated!

ILLUSTRATION: A wealthy man before leaving on an extended vacation said to a contractor, “While I am away, I want you to build me a fine new home according to these plans. Be sure you work with extreme care, and use the best of everything. Tell me the cost as soon as you have it and I’ll send you a check.” During the process of construction the contractor discovered many opportunities to substitute inferior materials; he put in his own pocket the money he saved. His employer would never know the difference, and he himself would profit. But he soon regretted his dishonesty, for the wealthy man upon his return inspected the finished home and said: “You have built it exactly as I wanted it, and I’m sure that you used the best of everything in its construction. Now, in appreciation for your long years of service to me, I am giving you this new home for your very own. Here’s the deed!”

• How is that for a twist on appreciation?
• How different is this next story on appreciation.

ILLUSTRATION: A Bible In Africa
A missionary in Africa gave a Bible to one of the African men there. When it was given to him, the man hugged the Bible and expressed great appreciation for the precious gift of God’s Word the missionary had given him. But when the missionary saw him a few days later, he noticed, much to his dismay, that the Bible looked like it was already falling apart, and that many of its pages were missing. The missionary asked him, “What happened? What did you do to your Bible? When I gave it to you I thought you considered it to be a treasured possession.” The man replied. “Indeed, it is a very precious possession. It is the finest gift I have ever received. It is so precious that when I returned to my village I very carefully chose a page and tore it out and gave it to my mother. Then I tore out another page and gave it to my father. And I tore out another page and gave it to my wife. Finally, I gave a page of God’s Word to everybody who lives in my village.”

• He so appreciated the message of God’s Word that he wanted to share it with everyone he knew.

Ephesians 1:15–16 (KJV)
15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, 16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

• Paul said “I give thanks for you” – “and I am going to demonstrate my appreciation by praying for you.”
• If you are going to value people in your life, you should express it in a tangible way by bringing people to God in prayer.
• Giving thanks for people is appreciating them.
• Praying for people is appreciating them.
• The word ‘appreciate’ means to…

DEFINITION: appreciate – to rise in value

• It is the opposite of depreciate which means to decrease in value.
• Appreciation means to rise in value in your estimation. It means people rise in value to you.
• If you go back over your saved life, think about all of the ministers, all of the pastors, all of the teachers, all of the rest of those involved in ministry that preached a sermon, wrote a book, put out a CD or DVD that taught you something about God that changed your life.
• Look at all the people who lived a life in front of you so you could see Jesus. How valuable is that?
• We should appreciate these people.
• They should rise in value in our estimation. How valuable they are.
• But, what about some of the other people in your life? There are more people in your life than ministers.
• How valuable are these people God has put in your life?
• Do a survey on this. Ask the question.
• Sometimes it is just a matter of stopping and thinking about it.
• Sometimes it’s not that we are unappreciative, it’s we are going so fast that we do not stop to analyze what just took place.
• Slowing down will help you value people properly.

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Questions to Ask

• Now which feels better? Appreciation or neglect?
• Are you frustrated when no one says thank you for a job well done?
• Are you exasperated from being overworked but yet under-appreciated?
• Is getting more criticism than encouragement grinding you down?
• Do you wonder if all the time you put into church, work and life are worth it?
• Do you find yourself wondering does anyone really care?
• If you are feeling like you are on the short-end of all of those questions, remember there is One who never forgets.
• There is One who fully appreciates you.
• There is One who sees everything you do.
• There is One who knows every sacrifice you make.
• There is One who understands every thoughtful act you have ever done.
• He comprehends all things you have given out of yourself for others.
• He is mindful of every prayer that you have ever prayed for others.
• God cares for you, appreciates you and He never forgets.

ILLUSTRATION: Memory Capacity
The memory capacity of even an ordinary human mind is fabulous. We may not consider ourselves particularly adept at remembering technical data … but consider how many faces we can recognize, how many names call up some past incident, how many words we can spell and define … It is estimated that in a lifetime, a brain can store one million billion “bits” of information. Isaac Asimov (1920- )

• If the human brain has that kind of capacity, what about the Lord’s?

Malachi 3:16 (KJV)
¹⁶ Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: And the Lord hearkened, and heard it, And a book of remembrance was written before him For them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.

• God never forgets.
• Everything is recorded but yet, His memory is selective because He chooses to forget certain things, like your sins.

Isaiah 43:25 (NKJV)
25“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.

• Are you glad about that?
• There are things God remembers – faith for example.

The “Remembrance” Side

• In Hebrews 11, there are 12 different people recorded in this chapter who believed God.
• God appreciates faith.
  • Through faith Noah
  • Through faith Moses
  • Through faith Abraham
• He appreciated it so well that He had it recorded all of it for you in one place.
• All 12 of these people in Hebrews 11 are Old Testament people.
• The time span is over 4000 years.
• God wants every generation to know how these 12 people believed Him.

Ephesians 6:8 (KJV)
⁸ Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.

• The Lord is saying I appreciate you so much whatever good thing you do, I am going to give that good thing back to you.
• God keeps track of all good things.

The “Moment” Side

• Even the small stuff – even the momentary stuff – the stuff that didn’t take you very long to do God takes note of and appreciates.
• Ask yourself how long did it take these people in the Bible to believe God?
• How much time was it? How long did they exercise their faith?
• Life is like a book.
• A book is broken up into chapters we call seasons.
• At a eulogy, we go through some of the events or chapters of a person’s life – the high spots.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV 1900)
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

• Ecclesiastes 3:1 calls these events or chapters ‘seasons.’
• Look at the time periods described in this chapter and ask yourself a question.

Ecclesiastes 3:2 (KJV)
² A time to be born, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

• How long does it take to be born? Years? or a matter of hours?
• Now apply the same question to other ‘faith’ areas of your life.
  • For example, how long did it take to get healed?
• What you realize is that a lifestyle of faith is filled with seasons or times of faith.
• A lifestyle of faith is filled with short periods of specific faith stretched out over a lifespan.
• The short stuff God remembers.
• The short stuff God appreciates.

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Old Testament ‘Moments’ of Faith Remembered

Hebrews 11:4 (KJV)
4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

• How long was Abel’s moment?
• It was however long it took to make the sacrifice.
• Surely that did not take a long time.
• It didn’t take years to make a sacrifice.
• What about Enoch’s moment?
• What about Moses moment?

Hebrews 11:28 (KJV)
28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

• Read Exodus 11:2 and you’ll find out how long the ‘Moses moment’ was.

Exodus 11:2 (KJV )
² Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.

• Moses heard God. His moment entailed obeying Him and speaking to the children of Israel about the Passover.
• How long was Moses moment? It was midnight of that very same day.

Exodus 11:4 (KJV)
⁴ And Moses said, Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:

• This small moment of Moses faith was recorded in Hebrews 11.
• The small ‘faith’ moments of your life…
  • ….are recorded
  • …are taken note of
  • …and are appreciated by God.
• Be encouraged. Much of the time we think we have to do some great big thing to get God’s attention.
• Actually, it’s all the little things combined together that gets it done.
• In God’s book of Remembrance, ‘Faith’ and ‘Famous’ go hand in hand.
• Faith for a moment is remembered forever.

Call to Action:

When was the last time that you told the significant people in your life that you appreciate them? Maybe you need to make a call or write a letter or send an e-mail or make a visit. Learning to live in the gratitude of appreciation yields great rewards and is part of the godly lifestyle of a believer in Jesus Christ.

Question: What kind of impact has telling the significant people in your life that you appreciate them had upon their lives? Please leave a comment in the comments section below.