Forky: Life Lessons from Toy Story 4

I found this wonderful article “Life Lessons from Toy Story 4” by Rita Dunaway. The author gives us a look at the life lessons we can learn from the movie Toy Story 4. Toy Story 4 centers around a new toy named “Forky.” Actually, he’s not a fork; he’s a plastic spork. Bonnie, the little girl who owns Woody and the other lovable toys, created Forky with her own hands on her first day in kindergarten. How many of you remember how afraid you were on your first day? Bonnie is very proud of her creation, having made him from scraps of craft materials scavenged from the trash.
Lovable Woody sees at once how much Bonnie loves Forky. Forky cannot conceive how anyone could love him. The author tells us, “He can’t seem to see himself as an object of value. He cannot grasp the concept of having a purpose, or of being loved. He sees himself as, well, trash.”

Forky continually tries desperately to launch himself into the nearest wastebasket and Woody constantly drags him out of the trash and returns him to Bonnie’s loving arms. After a lot of hard work and persistence, Woody eventually helps Forky see his true value and find joy in his purpose. So what lessons can we learn from this adorable story?

1. We are all Forkies. God created us for a purpose. We are His handiwork (Ephesians 2:10). We must remember that our value to God is not measured by what others think of us nor what we think of ourselves. He loves us unconditionally. The author states, “It’s so hard for us to see this — especially when we’re young and insecure. So what do we do? We throw ourselves away. We don’t jump into garbage cans, exactly. In a hundred other ways, though, we demean and degrade ourselves. Thus we demonstrate our utter lack of understanding of our unique individual worth.”

2. Stop throwing yourselves away. We look in the mirror and we see junk. We do not see our full potential. You see it every day. Young people looking for love in all the wrong places and old people trying so hard to be young again they forget that even in advanced age they still have great value to God.

The author explains it this way, “It’s the young man who just can’t picture himself as noble or important. He can’t see himself leaving any particular mark on the world. So he spends his time in the bins — endlessly watching trivial YouTube videos, listening to “music” with angry or irrational lyrics or even dabbling in pornography.
It’s the teenage girl who isn’t convinced that she’s smart enough or pretty enough to be loved the way she longs to be loved. So she gives in to pressures to expose her body — and her heart — to gain a bit of assurance that someone is paying attention and finding her “worthy.” It’s the tired man who drives himself so hard at work that he has little time for friendship or hobbies and can’t fully enjoy his time with family. He’s convinced that his value comes from the size of his paycheck or the title after his name. It’s the middle-aged woman who spends hours each day on social media. She needs to see which of her “friends” had the nicest vacation. Or whose kids are doing better than hers. Or who is sticking to the most grueling diet-and-exercise plan.”

We need to stop and take a look at how God sees us and stop trying to throw ourselves back into the “garbage infested places” God delivered us from. We need to help others see themselves, not as objects of God’s scorn; but as people He loves.

3. Get to know your true reality. Often, we fail to see the reality of our current situations. Our reality is not ‘we are just trash’, our reality is ‘we are created in the image of a loving God who only wants the best for us’. We are kings and priests in this world and we need to start acting according to this truth. God in His goodness opened our eyes to see the greater glory of His presence and told us how to live the abundant life. He didn’t create us, set us in a cruel world, and told us bye-bye and good luck. No, He gave us a manual (Bible) on how to conquer and rule this world in which we live.

Like Forky, our fulfillment comes from knowing, understanding, and embracing our true purpose; which according to scripture is to: bring pleasure to God (Revelation 4:11). Take your rightful place; get out of the trash bin, and start living the life you were created for.