We can adopt one of 2 methods to gauge our importance: Horizontally or Vertically.
HORIZONTAL IMPORTANCE
Adopt this method and you sound like this: "I'm not as important as Dr. Leonard Sweet because he has over 7,000 Twitter followers and I only have 1,000. But he's not as important as Mark Batterson who has over 11,000 Twitter followers. And I'm more important than ___ because they only have 350 Twitter followers."
Horizontal importance is just that - horizontal. It's based on comparison. We look at our sphere of influence in terms of size and look outward, horizontally, at others' spheres around us and find our place in some sort of graded scale.
VERTICAL IMPORTANCE
Adopt this method and you sound like this: "I am important because God is important and He has adopted me." That's it. Simple, huh?
Vertical importance is based on individualized attention by a God who has the power to turn His back on us but chooses to love us with such an intense love we will never fully grasp it this side of eternity. There is no comparison to others. We look upward to our gauge of importance and we hear a consistent message; a message of unconditional love and acceptance by the Father, Himself.
So, which method have you been using lately? Depends on the direction of your view - horizontally or vertically. Choose vertically and you'll be Serving Strong!
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