My friend Laura (who I am convinced Jesus wanted in my life
and I am thankful for Him realizing my need for good, true friendships) preached a sermon about a month ago that resonated well within me. It was a sermon about
worth.
Let me explain.
She shared that there are all sorts of things that are valuable and precious to different people. I mean...pearls before swine and all that...this is common knowledge. We don't wipe our butts with silver nor do we run to stash away toenail clippings in a bank vault.
Laura pointed out that the value of an object is ascribed by the buyer. At first I was confused because I thought..."No, the seller determines the value". But this is actually not true.
You see...when your BMW costs $50, 000...this is because someone is GOING to buy it. Someone (or someones rather) have deemed the car valuable enough to pay that amount of money. If people did not think so, the car would never sell and the company would either quickly drop its price or close down (if another market was not readily available and accessible).
Laura said that Jesus dug down in the dirt and picked up this rough, unpolished, seemingly unremarkable gem. He reached down and picked it up, brushed it off like a skilled metalsmith would and said "Yep, this one...this gem...this precious material is worth it. Worth my blood...worth dying for".That gem is
you. Jesus bought us not out of obligation, but out of His own perception of how important we are. As a mother would die for her children because she deems their life more valuable and important than hers, so too did Jesus see us.
Those words mean sooo much to me.
I love being told or shown that I am loved. Having struggled for many years with low self esteem and self worth, to be actively told that Jesus found
and still finds you valuable, makes you walk with a little more pep in your step and conduct yourself like the child of the
KING that you are.
I took Laura's message a step further though.
And I did this because there are
so many people who suffer from low self esteem...from low self-love, who choose to address their problem through casual sex, or even sex with someone they love (whether or not the person loves them back) and/or some other behavior in which they settle...settle for abuse...settle for whatever attention they can get from the person they so desperately want, settle for being used (money, time, body, etc) just so they can feel good about mattering to SOMEONE even if for a short time and/or a specific purpose.
I want to say this:
"Realizing that the Saviour and Creator deemed you and I worth of CREATION and REDEMPTION should mean something
POWERFUL to us. Jesus created us and then lost us to sin and afterwards looked at us in our rotten, wretched, corrupt state and said "Yep, still worth it. Worth the very life I have". Having said that...
We must see our own worth.
We must realize what was sacrificed for us.
We must hold ourselves in higher esteem.
We must respect ourselves as much as God respects us.
The
LORD OF ALL THINGS thought I was important, precious, beautiful, worthwhile, impressive, exciting, fun, pleasurable, endearing, amazing, VALUABLE, desirable, a catch...just plain ol'
GOOD. SO GOOD in fact that I was worth His life. Therefore, I...you...we have
no business decreasing our value
for the attention or acceptance of any mortal man or woman.
NONE!
We
DISHONOR God when we let ourselves be used by people like some piece of trash to be discarded about after use, to answer the beck and call of people we know do not love us, and to allow ourselves to be used to satisfy a persons temporal fantasies and vices when we have ubiquitously more to offer. We cheapen His sacrifice and say that we do not agree on the value He has given to us. We say that we are NOT the best thing that ever happened to Him. We should not sell ourselves short and WHATEVER we have to do to keep that in check, we should do it.
No one struggles to sell diamonds, rubies, sapphires, amethysts or pearls. Why on Earth are we lowering our standards and our
VALUE for people who have not earned it, proven they deserve it or are remotely willing to die for us? Chances are, if they're willing to die for you...they won't want you lowering anything.
It is us who must do better. We must somehow align ourselves with how God thinks. We must understand how He sees us and then hold ourselves to that standard at all times. Sure we'll get lonely sometimes and we'll want to be loved by people...that is normal. But we'll also accept nothing less than the best when we hold ourselves in high esteem...in the same esteem Christ holds us. I mean...think about that. It's the most romantic thing in EVERY movie to have some stalwart star or parent fall on behalf of the one they love.
JESUS ACTUALLY DID THAT FOR US. IN REAL LIFE.
We owe it to Him...We owe it to ourselves to do better...to accept more. You are Princes and Princesses. Sons and Daughters of a bonafide KING. It's time you felt like it
and acted like it.
Do NOT accept abuse...in ANY form.Do NOT drop your drawers for any person that hasn't married you (not just willing to marry. They should RESPECT you enough to make good on the promise to get hitched).
Do NOT lower your standards of what a Christ-like significant other is.
Recognize your own worth and act acordingly. You deserve the very
BEST and Jesus decided that was true when He gave us His very best...His life.
Return the favor."
Be Blessed.
