To Be God’s Friend, Value What He Values

[To Be God’s Friend, Value What He Values]( Current Teaching Series [Awesome Relationships]( [Listen to Today's Broadcast]( [To Be God’s Friend, Value What He Values]( By Rick Warren — 08/08/2022 [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email](mailto:?subject=I'd like to share a Daily Devotional from Pastor Rick with you&body= “Some of these people have missed the most important thing in life—they don’t know God.” 1 Timothy 6:21 (TLB) The key to a friendship with God is deciding whose friendship you want most. You don’t have time for everybody to be your best friend. You’ve got to decide who you want most to be your best friend. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 6:21, “Some of these people have missed the most important thing in life—they don’t know God” (TLB). They know all the baseball scores. They know the stock market quotes. They know the top 10 songs. They know who’s in and who’s out in every soap opera. But they don’t know God. They’ve missed the most important thing in life! If you’re not a friend of God, it means you care about something else more. James 4:4 says, “You should know that loving the world is the same as hating God. Anyone who wants to be a friend of the world becomes God’s enemy” (NCV). When James writes “loving the world,” he means loving the value system of the world. God wants you to love people, but that doesn’t mean you have to love the world’s value system. It’s so easy to get caught up in the distractions of life. And when you love the world’s value system, there’s not much room to love people. Instead, you love materialism. You love pleasure. You love popularity. You love prestige. You love passion, possessions, and position. But God loves people. And he wants you to love them too. One way to show your love of others is by taking an interest in their interests. In other words, what is important to you becomes important to me (always within the context of biblical truth). That’s how you show your love of God too. If you’re going to be a friend of God, then you’ve got to care about what he cares about and stop caring about the things he doesn’t care about. God doesn’t care about your image. He’s not interested in your status. He’s interested in your character—not how you look but who you are.  Are you ready to take a practical step toward friendship with God? Choose to value what he values. [PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>]( Talk It Over - What gets in the way of you being a friend of God? What adjustments could you make in your thoughts or behavior to remove those barriers? - What’s more important to you than knowing God? Why do you value it more? - Describe the relationship you have with your best friend. How does it compare to the relationship you have with God? - What are some things that you know God values? How important are those things to you? Have you trusted Jesus with your life? The Bible says you can only get to heaven by trusting in God through his Son, Jesus Christ. You cannot earn your way into heaven: “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast ” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV). If you’re ready to confess your sins and to trust Jesus with your life, start with this prayer: “Dear God, you have promised that if I believe in Jesus, everything I’ve ever done wrong will be forgiven, I will learn the purpose of my life, and you will accept me into your eternal home in heaven one day. “I confess my sin, and I submit to Jesus as my Savior and Lord. Jesus, I want to follow you and serve you. I humbly commit my life to you and ask you to save me and accept me into your family. In your name I pray. Amen.” If you just prayed to accept Jesus, please email me at Rick@PastorRick.com and let me know about it. I’d like to send you some free materials to help you start your journey with Jesus. The post [To Be God’s Friend, Value What He Values]( appeared first on [Pastor Rick's Daily Hope](. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email](mailto:?subject=I'd like to share a Daily Devotional from Pastor Rick with you&body= [Get the Relationship Scripture Cards when you give a gift to support Daily Hope!]( God created us for connection and has so much to say about relationships in his Word. Keep those verses at your fingertips with Pastor Rick’s collection of Relationship Scripture cards. Each of the 52 eye-catching, full-color Bible verse cards is beautiful to look at and slips easily in your purse or pocket, making them convenient to carry and simple to memorize—so you always have God’s Word when you need it most. Easily access verse after verse of encouraging Scripture that helps you develop life-giving relationships filled with joy and purpose. Perfect for gift giving or for yourself. Today's the last day for all first-time gifts to be doubled, up to $10,000, thanks to a special Matching Grant! [LEARN MORE]( [Complete Audio Series (Purchase)]( Includes 6 full-length messages from Pastor Rick's series Awesome Relationships. [LEARN MORE]( [Series Summary]( Message 1: Fighting for an Awesome Marriage Message 2: Fighting for an Awesome Family Message 3: Making Friends for Eternity Message 4: What Destroys Relationships and What Builds Them Message 5: Finding the Love of Your Life Message 6: Becoming Best Friends with God [PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST]( Pastor Rick Warren [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Linkedin]( Enjoy today's devotional? Listen to Pastor Rick’s daily audio teaching at [PastorRick.com]( Did someone forward this devotional to you? [Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional.]( As the founding pastor of Saddleback Church with his wife Kay, Dr. Rick Warren leads a 30,000-member congregation in California with campuses in major cities around the world. As an author, his book [The Purpose Driven Life]( is one of the best-selling nonfiction books in publishing history. It has been translated into 74 languages and sold more than 50 million copies in all formats. His book [The Purpose Driven Church]( was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the century. Rick also founded [The PEACE Plan]( to address five global issues—spiritual emptiness, self-serving leadership, poverty, disease, and illiteracy—through the power of ordinary people in the local church. You can listen to Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope, his daily 25-minute audio teaching, and sign up for his free daily devotionals at [PastorRick.com](. © 2022 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. You can unsubscribe by clicking the link below. Sent to: {EMAIL} [Unsubscribe]( Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, 23182 Arroyo Vista, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688, United States