We are constantly bombarded by advertisements for ways to boost our self-worth. We have multitudes of people who make a living telling you how to build yourself worth. They want you to see the value of you! Yet their ideology is far from what we truly need to know about our true value. Their idea is to believe in yourself. However, just believing does not make things happen. When our boys were young, there was a man whose son was on one of their Little League teams. He would stand at the fence and constantly yell to the kids, “Believe in yourself, you gotta believe.” While this sounded positive and he thought he was encouraging the kids, it did not improve their ability to hit the ball any better, run any faster, or catch any better. Those things happen because of hard work and God given abilities.
While it is important that we feel confident in our ability to move forward in the things we seek to do, we need to understand the source of our success. We cannot speak or will things to happen. We are not valuable because of a job, a position, heritage, or physical abilities. We are valuable because God deems it. While many may disagree, I would like us to examine this topic from a biblical perspective and determine what the ultimate outcome should be.
When God created everything in Genesis chapter one, He created Adam and Eve last. This was not an afterthought but a purposeful plan. He wanted to get everything ready for us to have a perfect life on earth. He created us to have a relationship with us. We know this to be true because before they sinned, He walked with them every afternoon in the garden. At creation, everything was perfect, with no flaws, and everything lived in harmony. God said, Let us, meaning the trinity, make mankind in our image and have rule over everything on earth, the sea, and the air. We are the only creation made with an eternal soul. We are like God in this quality. He not only wanted us to be like Him, but He made us rulers over every other creation. If the largest company in the world hired you and then gave you the top position, you would know they thought very highly of you! This is value!
Genesis 1:26-27 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
In Psalms 139:13-14, God teaches us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. The growth of a human, with all its intricate parts that function together, is a miracle in itself. Only God can create anything; we must make something from something that exists. This is not true with God. He started everything from nothing. Yet these verses teach us that we are made with great care. In Psalm 100:3, the psalmist reminds us that we are made by God, not by ourselves or any other person. Therefore, we are His and He will be our Shepherd. This is value!
Psalm 139:13-14 “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”
Psalm 100:3 “Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
He created and chose us in Ephesians 1:4, individually, not as a race of people, but for each one as an individual. He chose us to be holy in Him. This “Him” is Jesus. He wants all people to be saved, and in His Son, He made a plan for everyone so that we could one day stand before Him without blame in love. “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” Those who have accepted the precious redemption that was made possible by God giving His Son to pay the penalty for our sins are grafted into a royal priesthood, a holy nation, out of the darkness into the light, not just any light but His marvelous light. When your little girls want to be princesses, teach them in Christ that they are already royalty! This is value!
I Peter 2:9 “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
When we look at God and see the value He places on us, we can understand that it is not based on what we do, how we look, our education, or the money we make. He chose us, and He chose to make each one of us unique individuals. If you are trying to find your value in a job, your looks, your bank account, or any other earthly quality, you will always come up short. There will always be someone prettier, smarter, richer, uglier, dumber, or poorer. Stop comparing yourself to others and start living for who you are and what you are in God’s eyes. Live for Him and Him alone. Live in the light of His love, and when you fail, go to Him for forgiveness, peace, and joy. It cannot be matched by anything this side of Heaven. You are valued so greatly that it cost Him the life of His Son. That is the value of you!
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
