True Value

Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. ~ Luke 12:7

True Value

No, I’m not referring to the hardware store chain. I’m talking about the worth of something…or of someone. Let’s say, for example, you come across what looks to be an old diamond brooch, hidden away in your family’s attic; a brooch you learn once belonged to your great-great-great grandmother. What would you do to find the true value of the piece? Would you ask your neighbor or your professor or your boss to assess it? Not unless that was their field of expertise. No, you’d take it to an authority on antique jewelry instead, someone who is knowledgeable about what to look for in order to find the piece’s true value. Same as if you found yourself the owner of a really old baseball card or comic book in mint condition. You wouldn’t take the word of just ANYBODY as to whether or not you had in your possession something of extreme worth. Again, you’d go straight to the expert to find the card’s or the comic book’s true value.

So how about us? To whom do we go and where do we look to find our true value? It seems to me that too many times, we go to the wrong people and look in the wrong places to find our worth. On the Forbes’ website, you can find lists of ‘ The World’s Richest Americans’ and ‘The World’s Top 20 Billionaires.’ Carlos Slim Helu` (chairman and CEO of Telmex) comes in at number one with a whopping $75 billion dollar net worth, making him the richest person on the planet, with Microsoft’s Bill Gates coming in at Number 2 with a cool $56 billion dollar net worth. Wow! Airbrushed supermodels grace the front covers and pages of magazines and parade before us on TV. We look at them and then at ourselves and wonder where we went wrong. We compare ourselves to other people, a damaging and deadly practice. I should know (and believe me, I’m NOT bragging) because I’ve been doing that for years. And each time, I come away feeling gravely disappointed with myself, worthless, with little or no esteem, ready to throw in the towel and call it quits.

All my life, I’ve looked to other people to validate me. I’ve become involved with or said and done things in the hope of gaining the attention, acknowledgment, accolades and approval of others, that I might be found to have great worth and value in the world’s eyes. But I come up short each time, feeling rejected, discarded, forgotten, worthless. Why? Because these people were not made to define me. They are not the experts on who I am and what I’m worth.

Recently, I submitted my blog to a Christian blog directory in the hopes that I would get more people to read it (completely forgetting that my reason for having this blog in the first place was to be obedient to the LORD and write only because of Him and when He inspires me). Well, after reviewing my blog, the powers-that-be emailed me and told me they’d rejected it for several reasons (which I found to be somewhat lame and didn‘t altogether understand). But the reason that hit me hardest was that the blog content had 'no true value' (their words). Ouch! The sting of rejection hurts and for a short while, boy, I was hurt. And angry. After all, my topics are very personal, coming from deep inside my soul. So naturally, I took it personally, latching onto their ‘no true value’ phrase and transferring onto myself. If my blog stories had no true value, then it stands to reason that I must have no true value, right? WRONG! Why? Because again, these people are not the experts on me. They don’t know me. They cannot and should not be able to define and validate me. And shame on me for once again allowing somebody to do so. There is only One to Whom I’m to look for my worth, for my true value in this life and that is the LORD, Jesus Christ and Him alone. He is indeed The Expert and Authority. No one else knows me, inside and out, like He does.

While I may be a difficult work in progress, a diamond in the rough, the LORD looks at me and sees something beautiful already, even if I don’t, even if no one else does. He knows what I’m worth as His treasured possession and His Word assures me that:
　
I am His Masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10)
I’m the apple of His eye (Psalm17:8)
I’m hidden and held safely in the shadow of His wings (Psalm 17:8)
He’s enthralled with my beauty (Psalm 45:11)
He knows me and calls me by name because I belong to Him (Isaiah 43:1)
My name is engraved (not just written…ENGRAVED!) on the palm of His hands (Isaiah 49:16)
He takes great delight in me and rejoices over me in singing! (Zephaniah 3:17)
He holds me in His hand and never lets go (John 10:28)
He loves me…so much that He willingly took on the brunt of God’s wrath against sin and sinners and gave His life for me…. and won’t allow me to be separated from His love (John 15:12-13; Romans 8:38-39)

Wow. It doesn’t get any better than this, does it? I may not be worth billions of dollars. To some, what I’m worth may only tally up to double digits on a good day. But to the LORD, I’m priceless!

So how about you? Will you join me in being determined to ditch what this world has to say about your worth and instead, let the LORD Jesus be the Expert Who appraises you and shows you what your true value is…in Him? Be encouraged!
　
The days will come when you don't have the strength
When all you hear is you're not worth anything
Wondering if you ever could be loved
And if they truly saw your heart they'd see too much
You're beautiful You're beautiful
You are made so much more than all of this
You're beautiful, You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful ~ Beautiful, by Mercy Me