When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Not a beard, or a few grey hairs peeking through your scalp. I mean,
what do you really see? Do you see a piece of trash, someone broken and imperfect? Do you see a work of art, created in the image of God? More likely, you see the former. At the end of the day, you think you’re trash. A good-for-nothing, constantly screwing up at what God wanted you to do. Everyone else probably thinks you’re worthless, so why shouldn’t you do the same? What if I told you that what others think of you -or even what you think of you- isn’t where your value comes from?
It’s not. Worth doesn’t come from the opinions of others or even your own usefulness to God. Toby Mac isn’t more valuable to God because he’s spread God’s word to more people than you. Your pastor isn’t more worthy because he’s screwed up less than you.
A person’s value isn’t determined by some innate quality but by the lengths to which an owner would go to possess them. This makes all the difference. If our value was based upon what we’ve done or what other people think of us, then it would constantly change. Our self-worth would forever be fluctuating between worthless and priceless simply because of circumstances.
“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!” – Luke 12:27-28
We aren’t the ones that determine a person’s value. That’s God’s job. He created us, after all. Think about the way humans value things. Certain brands of clothing are valued more because they are popular, and water is valued more in places where it is scarce than where it is common. Our value of something is the lengths to which we would go to possess them.
How far does God go to possess us? To find that answer, we don’t have to look any farther than the cross. The eternal One died so He could have us. He gave up His rightful throne to come and suffer simply so we could return to Him. If those are the lengths that He went to possess us, then what our value? We are priceless. Fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of a Creator that loved us enough to say, “He’s mine” in spite of all of our flaws and rebellion.
It can be hard to believe we are priceless, though. We look around and see a world of people better than us, wondering how we could ever be worth anything with all the times we’ve screwed up. It can be hard to see our worth in a world so focused on success, but God doesn’t look at your successes and our failures. He created you because He wanted to. He wouldn’t have given you existence if you weren’t worth it. Your very presence here is a testimony to the love of the Father. No more believing the lie. God doesn’t take time to make junk. He is incapable of making something less than wonderful. You are made in His image. Live like it.