My value is not in who I am

I recently read of a person who was struggling with how he would “respond” or as any self respecting American man would never say, how he felt, when someone questioned whether he was right.  Yes, he knows this is an issue of pride.  But the problem is where does that come from?

I too have fought this problem in my own heart.  I have found myself wanting others to respect me and think great thoughts about me.  And when that was not the case, I was hurt.  The problem was I was looking for the impossible.  Anyone can tell you that “you can’t please everybody.”

Bottom line is whether a person is trying to determine their own self worth by what others think of them, or by what they think of themselves, both are damaging to the individual.  Neither others nor the self can determine self worth.  Why?  Because there is no base line.  No starting point to determine self worth within the person themselves.

But just like a piece of jewelry, an automobile, or a piece of land is worth whatever will be paid for it, your value is determined the same way.  So how much are you worth?

… you are not your own.  For you have been bought with a price… – 1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a

The idea that there was a price paid for you comes from the Bible.  Your value has been determined.  Jesus said of Himself in Matthew 20:28 that He:

did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

The price, is His life.

knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or Gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

So your value is not determined in what someone else thinks of you, or even in what you think of yourself.  You are worth whatever God will pay.  The price God paid for you was the life and blood of the God the Son, Jesus Christ.

No longer allow anyone to make you feel worthless.  You are not.  You are of great value.  And I thank God, so am I.  Why?  Because He said so, and backed it up with His very life.