Man Pushes Wife To Save Himself From A Sinking Cruise Ship. But The Reality Is Priceless.

Reblogged from tickld.com

A teacher was tutoring a class of students when she relayed a story about a cruise ship capsized while at sea, and on the ship was a couple that managed to make their way to a lifeboat but realized there was only space for one. You’ll never guess what lesson they learned from the story.

A cruise ship met with an incident at sea. On the ship was a couple, after having made their way to the lifeboat, they realized that there was only space for one person left.

At this moment, the man pushed the woman behind him and jumped onto the lifeboat himself.
The lady stood on the sinking ship and shouted one sentence to her husband.

The teacher stopped and asked, "What do you think she shouted?"

Most of the students excitedly answered, "I hate you! I was blind!"

Now, the teacher noticed a boy who was silent throughout, she got him to answer and he replied, "Teacher, I believe she would have shouted - Take care of our child!"

The teacher was surprised, asking "Have you heard this story before?"

The boy shook his head, "Nope, but that was what my mom told my dad before she died to disease".

The teacher lamented, "The answer is right".
The cruise ship sunk. The man went home and brought up their daughter single-handedly.
Many years later after the death of the man, their daughter found his diary while tidying his belongings.

It turns out that when parents went onto the cruise ship, the mother was already diagnosed with a terminal illness. At the critical moment, the father rushed to the only chance of survival.

He wrote in his diary, "How I wished to sink to the bottom of the ocean with you, but for the sake of our daughter, I can only let you lie forever below the sea alone".
The story is finished, the class was silent.

The teacher knows that the student has understood the moral of the story, that of the good and the evil in the world, there are many complications behind them which are hard to understand.

Which is why we should never only focus on the surface and judge others without understanding them first.

Those who like to pay the bill, do so not because they are loaded but because they value friendship above money.

Those who take the initiative at work, do so not because they are stupid but because they understand the concept of responsibility.

Those who apologize first after a fight, do so not because they are wrong but because they value the people around them.

Those who are willing to help you, do so not because they owe you anything but because they see you as a true friend.

Those who often text you, do so not because they have nothing better to do but because you are in their heart.

One day, all of us will get separated from each other; we will miss our conversations of everything and nothing; the dreams that we had. Days will pass by, months, years, until this contact becomes rare… One day our children will see our pictures and ask “Who are these people?” And we will smile with invisible tears because a heart is touched with a strong word and you will say: “It was them that I had the best days of my life with.”

God´s Friend?

God´s Friend

Greg Laurie

 

Do you have any good friends? Are you a good friend to someone else? Having friends can actually improve women’s health, according to a UCLA study done by scientists Laura Cousin Klein and Shelly Taylor. Their research found that women under stress experience at least temporary relief by bonding with her pals, which releases the hormone oxytocin, which, among other things, helps create a sense of tranquility.

 

And study after study has shown that social ties actually reduce our risk of disease by lowering our blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol.

It has been said a friend is one who walks in when others walk out. It takes a long time to build true friendships. They don’t come all that often in life.

 

It was Aristotle who said rather cynically, “O my friends, there is no friend.” Maybe that is because Aristotle did not know about the friend “who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24 NKJV), the friend who wants to enter into a relationship with all of us. I am speaking, of course, about Jesus Christ.

What does it mean to be a friend of God? I know that God extends His friendship toward us, but the question is, are we reciprocating? Are we responding appropriately?
Jesus spoke about true friendship with others and with God. He said, “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:12–14 NLT).

Here we find that Jesus is offering His friendship to all of humanity. But here is what we need to know: A friendship consists of two people committing themselves to each other. In other words, I can’t just say to you, “From now on I am your close friend.” Rather, you would need to enter into friendship with me as well. It is a partnership, an agreement.
In the same way, I can’t simply say that I am God’s friend unless he responds. Nor can God say that I am his friend unless I respond. So here is what we need to know: God has offered His friendship to us. Jesus also said, “You didn’t choose me. I chose you” (John 15:16). Imagine that for a moment. God chose us to be his friends, to be His companions.
Maybe when you were growing up, you were forced to be friends with someone. Maybe your mother felt sorry for someone and said, “Make that person your friend. Take them with you.” You didn’t want to be a friend with that person. Or maybe you went out on a blind date. You were set up with someone and you felt pressure to be that person’s friend when you really didn’t want to be.

That is not the case with God. He wants to be your friend. He has pledged His unwavering offer of friendship to us. If we want to respond in kind, here is what we need to do.

We need to obey him. Jesus said, “You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14). How do we demonstrate our friendship with God? We do what he says. And if we don’t, then we have no right to call ourselves his friends.

God has a lot of so-called friends. They say they love him. But then they will go out deliberately break his commandments. They will go out and intentionally do what he tells them not to do, all the while boasting of their love for him. But Jesus said that his friends will do what he commands.

We need to obey actively. The obedience Jesus required was an active obedience. Again, he said, “You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14). Some think that it is enough to merely avoid what God forbids. They might say, “Well, I am not a thief,” or list some other thing that God tells us not to do. But that would be like someone saying, “Well, I am your friend because I don’t insult you or beat you up.” Friendship is more than just the absence of bad things; it is also the presence of good things. God really wants both from us.

We need to obey continuously. In the original language, the word “do” that Jesus used speaks of something that is continuous. In other words, it means a constant obedience. This does not mean we must be perfect, because no one is. But it does mean that when we fall, we get up and try again. We want to honor the commitment we have made to God.

We need to obey even in the little things. True friends of God obey him in even the smallest matters. Jesus didn’t say, “You are my friends if you do whatever you are comfortable with or what you personally agree with or what you find easy.”

We need to obey voluntarily. True friends of God obey him because they want to. When you love someone, you like to do things for them. Sometimes we look at giving and serving as a duty. When we are really friends of God, it is a delight, a privilege to do something that he tells us to do.

We need to cultivate the friendship. True friendship with God must be maintained by cultivation. When someone is your close friend, you talk to him or her a lot. You shoot them emails. You text them. You often have ongoing conversations. Friends talk to friends. And that is what we should be doing with God – constantly communicating with him. That is what prayer is, really. When you are in friendship with God, you will cultivate the communication. And when you are out of friendship with God, you won’t want that communication.

You have a friend in high places who will never betray you, who is extending communication and fellowship to you that will never betray your confidence. God loves you and offers his friendship to you. Do you want it? Do you have friendship with God?