Know your Value

Know Your Value

I find it interesting how often we can be the harshest critics of ourselves. It
seems as if it’s easier for us to find the good and value in others, and yet we
neglect to see that in ourselves. How often do you find yourself asking the
question, “How could anyone love someone like me?”, or “I have made so
many mistakes, so how is it that anyone sees value in me”? I believe that in
these low moments when we struggle to see our value, we ought to take a
moment to look at ourselves through the lens that God sees us. Not too long
ago, Bubba Garner shared a message from Luke 15 and after hearing his
sermon and ultimately reading Jesus’ message, it reiterated to me how God
values us especially when we are lost.

First, we are valued as one of his sheep. Something worth pointing out in this
parable is the business decision made on the part of the shepherd. As an
outside observer I found myself asking why would the shepherd worry so
much about one sheep when he still has the other ninety-nine? Is it really
worth the trouble to go find the one? Of course, the answer to that question
was clearly yes as Jesus tells us that “there will be more joy in heaven over one
sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no
repentance”. Now at first glance it may not feel comforting being compared to
a sheep considering they are known to be one of the least intelligent animals,
but it’s important to view this comparison from the perspective of a shepherd.
Christ is referred to as the good shepherd in John chapter 10 and there we see
what the sheep mean to their shepherd. “I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a
shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the
sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees

because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good
shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me
and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:11-15).
Having a willingness to lay down your life for something is often a good way to
show just how much value you place in that thing, and as we know in the latter
part of Jesus’ life, he valued us so much that he went to the cross and died for
our us.

If you ever want to know exactly how much you are worth, I suppose here in
the second parable the answer is that we are worth exactly one denarius or a
day’s wage for a laborer. I joke of course, but after hearing Bubba Garner’s
sermon I began to see this parable in a much different way. For the longest
time, I thought this parable was the story of a woman who was happy to find
her missing money, but these coins meant much more to her than the
monetary value they possessed. It is likely these ten coins were the dowry paid
for her marriage and in those times, it was common for them to wear the coins
around their head or neck to symbolize that covenant, so think of these ten
coins in the same way you would think of a wedding ring today. Now as of this
moment, I have not lost my wedding ring (brief pause in writing this article
while I go knock on some wood), but if I were to lose my wedding ring, I would
take any measure to find that ring. Not because of the monetary value that ring
possesses, but because of what it means to me personally and the immense
sentimental value I have placed in that ring. This is the same kind of value that
God places in us.

This final parable that Jesus shares in Luke 15 shows how God values us as one
of his own children. After all the horrible things the prodigal son did including
to his father, it was at his lowest point he said to himself “I am no longer
worthy to be called your son”, but when he finally came home, his father ran
and embraced him and kissed him. It did not matter that his son had wasted
his wealth away in a foreign country. In that moment all that mattered was
that his son had come home because of the great love and value the father had
for his son.

There is a story of a speaker who began a seminar by showing his audience a
crisp $20 bill. He asked, “Who wants this $20 bill?” Everyone nodded. He
said, “I am going to give this money to someone, but first….” Then he
proceeded to crumple the bill up. He asked the crowd again if anyone wanted
it. Everyone’s hand went up in the air. The speaker then dropped the money

on the floor and stomped all over it. He then raised it in the air to show the
crowd how filthy the money was. “Does anyone want it now?” Every hand went
up. The speaker proceeded to tell the crowd that no matter what he did to ruin
the money, people still wanted it because its value remained the same. Life
often beats us up to the point where we feel inadequate. We deal with bad
circumstances and make bad choices that have consequences. However, no
matter what you go through, your value remains the same to God, and so my
prayer for you today is when you reach that point in life where you question
your value, may you see yourself the same way that God sees you.

- Caleb White

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