Our society tends to take it upon itself to decide if a life has value. Now, isn’t that interesting? Think about it. God created each person, sent Jesus to redeem us, and now we are going to decide how much a life is or isn’t worth?
Have you ever felt worthless? You are not worthless. No one is worthless.
I remember when I first became a stay-at-home mom. My heart said that I was doing the right thing. I knew that taking care of our child was the most important thing I could be doing. For whatever reason though, I still attached my self-worth to the income I was bringing into the home – zip.
Perhaps the reason I did that was because society’s expectation is that we will hold a job. If you do, that is great. However, your worth is not derived from your job. Whether you hold a job or not has nothing to do with your worth.
Another reason I may have done that is that I had so much past to reflect on. Although I had achieved a lot, I could see failures and underachievement – some real, some imagined – going back for years. My mind still reeled with the poor choices I had made, and the dreams that had slipped away. Little did I know that God had better plans for me, but I digress.
Your worth does not come from a job, a spouse, success, or anything else you can control or that controls you. You cannot lose it, gain it, increase it, or decrease it. You cannot buy it, sell it, steal it, or give it away. Whatever the value is, you are stuck with it.
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Revelation 4:11
Your worth comes solely from one source – God. You were created for His pleasure. It is by His will and power that you are here. He put you here for a reason. He knew you’d fail, and He provided a Savior to die for your sins. He gave us Salvation through faith. We don’t even have to work for it. We must have worth to God.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 1:27
The unborn, the young, the old, and everyone in between is created in the image of God. How can we then say anyone is worthless?
LIFE APPLICATION
Perhaps you have found yourself having to ask for help recently. You may have lost a job or decided to become a stay-at-home mom. For whatever reason, you may have lost touch with your self worth. You self-esteem may have taken a bruising.
Society would have you to believe your worth is attached to your income or what you produce. Don’t believe it. It’s not true.
Even if you know this, that hiccup in your self-esteem can be a challenge to get beyond. You may find it helpful to let God use you to help someone else. When you see God work through you, you will gain heart knowledge that God can and will use you. Then, you will know by experience that you really do have worth, and God defines it – not man.