“Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” – Psalm 46:10 (NLT)

It’s easy to get so wrapped up in all the things going on. Your social media thread is probably full of issues, problems and friend’s drama. It’s easy in all the busyness to not make any time for God.

Knowing God doesn’t just come from going to church on Sunday. It certainly doesn’t come from reading a few Bible stories or hearing what your parents have to say about God.

Knowing God comes from spending time with Him. You’ve got to get still and get to know Him. Let Him speak to you.

To get to know Him, you’ve got to get still. Turn off your phone, the TV and all of the distractions and get quiet. As you’re still begin to listen to what He would speak to you.

God wants nothing more than a deep and fulfilling relationship with you.

I want to know Christ–yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, – Phil 3:10 (NIV)

Do you have those friends who only want to talk about themselves? They are the ones that the minute you start talking about something that’s going on in your life, it’s obvious they’ve dismissed you and checked out.

We all have friends like that.

The tough question is, do you treat Jesus like that?

This week we’re going to spend some time looking at our relationship with Jesus. Because our relationship with Jesus should be the most important thing in our lives.

Today’s Challenge: Are you interested in Jesus who will never ignore you?

The truth is, your friends may dismiss you. They might find someone more exciting to hang out with. Jesus never will. He will never stop wanting to hang out with you and listen to you.

So today, ask yourself, have you taken time out of your busy life to spend time with Jesus? Have you made knowing Him a priority? Or have you spent your time seeking the approval of friends, or other interests instead of seeking after the one who loves you and will never dismiss you?

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. – Proverbs 4:23

Have you noticed that if something is important, you guard it? If you have a wallet, you don’t leave it out where anyone can take it. If you cross the street, you look both ways to be sure no cars are coming. We spend lots of effort each day keeping our bodies and possessions safe.

In today’s verse, we’re encouraged to guard our hearts above all else. That means that we should make it a priority. We should make guarding our heart important. Just like we would guard our wallet or another important possession, we should guard our heart.

However, when it comes to our heart, many times we throw caution to the wind. We don’t pay attention to the people we date or the friendships we make. We should be taking care of our heart and making it a priority also.

If you haven’t, choose to put some effort into guarding your heart. Don’t just date any person that comes your way. Be selective and take any necessary precautions to guard your heart.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. – Psalm 46:1 (ESV)

Have you ever been trying to tell a friend something and they were on their phone? And instead of paying attention to you their attention was focused on their phone and they didn’t hear a word you said? It can make you feel really bad when you need a friend to listen and your friend isn’t mentally present in the conversation.

God isn’t like people you know that get distracted and don’t listen. Instead, He is present and attentive when you face difficulty. He is there ready to be your refuge and strength and to help you through whatever you’re facing.

Even if you’re in the midst of something really difficult, don’t stop. Keep pressing through knowing that God is there to help and strengthen you.

Honour thy father and thy mother’; and ‘Thou shalt love thy fellow man as much as thyself.'” – Matthew 19:19 (WNT)

Have you noticed how easy it is to love your friends? It’s a lot easier to love people that you really respect. How about your parents? That’s harder. Sometimes even harder yet, is loving others as much as yourself.

It’s easy to love ourselves. We always understand that we mean well. It seems that we can always give ourselves the benefit of the doubt. But do we give others the same treatment?

Do we give others the benefit of the doubt? Can we let other people have a bad day? Or do we judge them based on what we see externally?

If we’re really going to love others, it’s going to take some work. It’s going to take us looking internally and making adjustments to see the good in others around us. Yet, that’s what God does for us. He sees our potential.

God loves us unconditionally. And that love should empower us to love those around us. Not because they treat us right or do the things we feel are right, but because of how much God loves us.

The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?” – John 4:9 (NLT)

Jesus was always breaking down barriers. He crossed cultural lines and went out of His way to love others.

In today’s Bible verse, we see the story of Jesus talking with the Samaritan woman. He surprised her by His love for her and how he went out of His way to talk to her and help her.

Jesus has always crossed lines and gone out of His way to love those who were hurting. He loves those who society overlooks.

As Christians, we should be doing the same. We should be going out of our way to love those around us who have been overlooked and unheard. We should be striving to love those around us, not because of what society says but because of who we serve.

Jesus always values people. Regardless of background. He broke down barriers and loved people all around Him.

So today, challenge yourself to look for someone hurting around you. Then ask God how you can be part of the solution. Ask God to show you how you can love those around you and show the world God’s love.

then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. – Genesis 2:7 (ESV)

God created people. He loves people. They have so much value to Him, and He loves and treasures each person and sees their potential and value when He looks at them.

God created people. That means people have value to Him.

Today’s Truth: People have value because they were created by God and for a relationship with God.

To treat someone less than God’s best is wrong. The truth is we have all been bought with a price. We all deserved hell but got God’s grace. And because we’ve been forgiven much, it should empower us to love others.

So today, remember you have great value to God. Know that you are created by God for a relationship with Him. Don’t believe a lie that you’re anything less than God’s best.

Also, choose to treat others in light of what God has done for you. Determine to not judge others unfairly because of how they look but instead see their value because of how much they’re worth to God.