Pastor’s Corner: “Measure Your Worth at the Cross”
Romans 12:3 (TLB) – 3 As God’s messenger I give each of you God’s warning: Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you.
A moving company was packing up a wealthy man’s estate. The owner said to one of the movers, “Be careful with that vase! It’s over 500 years old!” The mover replied, “Don’t worry, mister. I’ll treat it like it was brand new!” The little story raises the question, how do we determine what a thing is worth? Some might say by its antiquity or rarity. A tougher question to answer is this: How do we measure a person’s worth?
Whether you’re aware of it or not, you have a way of measuring your self-worth. You may not do it the same way someone else does, but you use something in your life to determine your own value. According to one study, your self-worth is likely based on how you rate yourself in at least one of these seven areas: Approval from others – How you look – The things you’re good at – Your family’s love and support – How you measure up to other people – Your character – Your view of faith or God’s love.
Think about the things that make you feel good about yourself. What happens to your self-worth if any of these things change? Positive vibes from social media posts feel great, but they fade quickly as your newsfeed moves on. Jobs and relationships can be fulfilling, and they definitely last longer than likes on Instagram, but what happens to your value when you lose your job or when people let you down? Sometimes we feel worthless because of some mistake we made, or because of what someone has said. These feelings can be devastating and influence our lives for a long time.
And the lack of value we feel for ourselves in turn affects how we treat others. I know what the Bible says about who I am, and I know who God thinks I am. But I still find myself teetering between what I know versus what I feel. And if I’m honest, sometimes what I’m feeling comes out in the way I treat others. I never wake up and make the conscious decision to treat others the way I feel. But I often find myself at the end of the day wondering why I said what I said, reacted the way I reacted, and felt the negative feelings toward someone else I felt.
I’ve come to understand it’s a love issue. One reason why I think we struggle so much to live out the second greatest commandment (love others as ourselves) is because honestly, we struggle to love ourselves the right way. There’s a saying: Hurt people hurt people. People who struggle to love themselves, struggle to love their neighbors.
Before the world was saved, before any person could get himself together (as if that would’ve been possible anyway), Jesus came and died for all mankind. This thought can bring such relief to your soul because you can know that RIGHT NOW, you are enough. You will not be more worthy once you develop more spiritual maturity, clean up your life, give more to the church…you are enough today. He died for you before you did a thing for Him, and your value to Him does not depend on anything you will ever do or achieve in the future. 1 Corinthians 6:20 (AMP) – 20 You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body.
God paid a huge price for you and for me. It’s important to remind ourselves of this on a regular basis. The world relentlessly impresses on us that we have to be “as good as…” or “as successful as…” or “as pretty as…” It’s a ploy of the enemy to keep us frustrated and feeling like we will never measure up to a standard that can never be attained. God is not asking YOU to measure up to anything. Just Be YOU. Embrace and accept who you are today. Sure, we all want to move forward and “be better.” Just make sure the image you are reaching for is who you are in Christ. There you will find your true value. There you will find rest.
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton