What are we worth? What is worth, anyways? What does it matter to be worth something? Does it even matter at all?
Worth is something that is placed upon something by something else. Right? A bird places worth on its nest and its food. To the bird, the worm is worth something. In that same thought, worth is placed by the bird on its own life. The bird will pay some price – expend some energy – to attain the worm. It will give time and a certain amount of effort to get that meal. Depending on the worth of that morsel, weighed against the worth of its own life and wellbeing, the bird will even fight for the right to have and eat the worm.
I place worth on inanimate objects that cannot save or augment my life in any way that truly matters. I will fight for them. Break fellowship over them. Cry over them. I may even laugh with joy for them. I can place worth on something and that thing now effects me greatly in my life. It comes to this: something of worth has value. I may hold something in high personal worth that you don’t value at all! So now worth is subjective! Humans placing worth on things amounts to golden stars and gray dots in a world of Wemmicks. Our concept of it has been twisted such that it must be processed through our own, personal, set of beliefs so that we can be self-empowered to label a person, place, thing, or idea.
If I want to be worthy to you I must jump all your hurdles – I have to meet all the requirements on your checklist. I might even have to change who I am so that I can be worthy of you and in attaining that worth I place worth on myself. The sad thing is that no one is immune. We all do this. Our worth is based on our values and what we value. On top of this our values change. What I value today may have no value tomorrow. All of a sudden, you have no worth. You, and I, have become worthless – more often than not – through no fault of our own. Our value determines our worth.
MATTHEW 10:29-30 (NIV)
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of you Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
God – our Father – the One to Whom we all belong – we are children of the Almighty – we are members of His household – He places great worth and value on us. Jesus explains this in a way we can understand. He takes something that we have placed a small value on. He takes this object of our low worth and says that they are so worthy of our Father’s attention, care, and energy that not one – NOT ONE little bird out of them ALL, throughout the whole earth – will fall from the sky without His say-so. He is completely invested in the lives of ALL these little birds. They have great worth to Him. And He says that we are worth MORE than many of them. When the Alpha-and-Omega says many – we must understand how large His scope is. Many is a very large number when the One who knows them ALL is concerned. Worth. Value.
LUKE 12:23-24 (NIV)
“Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!”
We are more valuable than birds. He takes care of them all and we hold more value than they do to Him. He places a high value and worth on things we do not – and places higher on us.
JOHN 3:16 (NIV)
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
ROMANS 5:6-8 (NIV)
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
While we were worthless God placed a high value on us and expended some great energy, paid a high price, to give us the option to believe. To many, and especially me, this makes little to no sense. Unless, of course, you and I – for a moment – let go of ourselves and our world. We must relinquish hold of our belief systems for just one moment. If we could imagine to understand something about God’s ‘belief system’, for lack of a better term, I believe that we would see that it is pure love. His value of things is base in, and on, and around the concept of TRUE LOVE!! “For God so LOVED the world…” “But God demonstrates His own LOVE for us…”
Worth is something that is placed upon something by something else. Right? A bird places worth on its nest and its food. To the bird, the worm is worth something. In that same thought, worth is placed by the bird on its own life. The bird will pay some price – expend some energy – to attain the worm. It will give time and a certain amount of effort to get that meal. Depending on the worth of that morsel, weighed against the worth of its own life and wellbeing, the bird will even fight for the right to have and eat the worm.
I place worth on inanimate objects that cannot save or augment my life in any way that truly matters. I will fight for them. Break fellowship over them. Cry over them. I may even laugh with joy for them. I can place worth on something and that thing now effects me greatly in my life. It comes to this: something of worth has value. I may hold something in high personal worth that you don’t value at all! So now worth is subjective! Humans placing worth on things amounts to golden stars and gray dots in a world of Wemmicks. Our concept of it has been twisted such that it must be processed through our own, personal, set of beliefs so that we can be self-empowered to label a person, place, thing, or idea.
If I want to be worthy to you I must jump all your hurdles – I have to meet all the requirements on your checklist. I might even have to change who I am so that I can be worthy of you and in attaining that worth I place worth on myself. The sad thing is that no one is immune. We all do this. Our worth is based on our values and what we value. On top of this our values change. What I value today may have no value tomorrow. All of a sudden, you have no worth. You, and I, have become worthless – more often than not – through no fault of our own. Our value determines our worth.
MATTHEW 10:29-30 (NIV)
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of you Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
God – our Father – the One to Whom we all belong – we are children of the Almighty – we are members of His household – He places great worth and value on us. Jesus explains this in a way we can understand. He takes something that we have placed a small value on. He takes this object of our low worth and says that they are so worthy of our Father’s attention, care, and energy that not one – NOT ONE little bird out of them ALL, throughout the whole earth – will fall from the sky without His say-so. He is completely invested in the lives of ALL these little birds. They have great worth to Him. And He says that we are worth MORE than many of them. When the Alpha-and-Omega says many – we must understand how large His scope is. Many is a very large number when the One who knows them ALL is concerned. Worth. Value.
LUKE 12:23-24 (NIV)
“Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!”
We are more valuable than birds. He takes care of them all and we hold more value than they do to Him. He places a high value and worth on things we do not – and places higher on us.
JOHN 3:16 (NIV)
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
ROMANS 5:6-8 (NIV)
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
While we were worthless God placed a high value on us and expended some great energy, paid a high price, to give us the option to believe. To many, and especially me, this makes little to no sense. Unless, of course, you and I – for a moment – let go of ourselves and our world. We must relinquish hold of our belief systems for just one moment. If we could imagine to understand something about God’s ‘belief system’, for lack of a better term, I believe that we would see that it is pure love. His value of things is base in, and on, and around the concept of TRUE LOVE!! “For God so LOVED the world…” “But God demonstrates His own LOVE for us…”
Love.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-7 (NIV)
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
We are loved despite our apparent worth. God loves everyone: Christian, un-Christian; Saved, un-Saved; Believers, un-Believers – all LOVED. It is rare for someone to die for another who is righteous. Someone may die for a good person. Christ Jesus died for us all while we were filth and slime. His love is so great for us all that He places worth and value on us despite how we would value one-another. This love causes Him to offer the gift of eternal life with Him to EVERYONE. Love does not force. Love offers.
Love was a good enough reason to come and die so that we MIGHT live – to offer us a chance to believe in Him and not perish but to have eternal life. Love allows for rejection. Love opens your arms and exposes your heart. Love holds on tight – it doesn’t chain you down. TRUE love is always available and waiting. Love allows for choice.
What is a Christian? I’m not sure. Christian is just a word. Whether or not I belong to Christ is a choice. When we belong to Christ, and are in Him and He in us, it is apparent that He has brought about a change in us. We become more and more Christ-like the longer and closer we walk with Him.
JOHN 15:8 (NIV)
“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
Before long, we must take a look at our faith. Are we Christian? Or, do we let Christ be our life? Do we call out to Him, or do we call out in faith? Have we placed the full weight of our trust in God? Does our life bear the mark of God? Do we say we believe, or can we not contain the actions of a Christ-follower due to the fact that our faith in Him – in answer to His great love for us – has resulted in our letting Jesus be our life?
JAMES 2:18-19 (NIV)
“But some will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder.”
Are you a follower of Christ? Do you accept what He has done for you? Do you trust in Him? Do you cling to Him? Do you put your whole weight upon God who, through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ, has demonstrated His unyielding love for you in the crucifixion of your sins? In Him there is light and life. He is the most excellent way.
JOHN 14:6 (NIV)
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”
He loves you, and even me. Out of His unimaginable love He places great worth and value upon us all. Jesus shows us the way to the Father through faith in Him and what He has done for us. We cannot gain this worth. We can’t change who we are to fulfill His checklist. We can’t act a certain way to make Him place high value on us. You can’t make Him love you more – and He will never love you less. So, what is worth? What is Christian? All I know is that He loves me more than I know. Because He loves me I have let Him into my life and He has changed me, and is changing me. His love that brings around this change in me causes me to bear good fruit. I don’t try to act good at church and do good deeds to earn points – I just can’t help it. I have worth.
