Where do we find our worth? So often our world tells us that our job, our status, our income, and our material possessions determine our worth and for most people that is where their value lies. That is how they measure and compare themselves to others. Where should our real worth lie and what determines that worth? The bible says that God is the only one that we have to be accountable to and that He will judge who is worthy. So what is God looking for? Who does He consider worthy? His children. Those people who have given their life to Christ and who fully surrender to Him. That is what makes us worthy. Does worthy look a specific way? God created us in His image and that image is what He feels gives us value. For years I have heard the statement "made in the image of God," but I recently dove more into what that really means. This passage of scripture is found in Psalm 8 and Psalm 139 and my commentary discusses it in this way: God's character goes into the creation of every person. He uses part of Himself in the making of every human being. God's spirit is willing and ready to do a mighty work is us. I sat awestruck as I began to think about bearing the image of God. The following is one of the most powerful word pictures I have ever read about being made in the image of God. I hope you are encouraged!
"Van Gogh's Irises sells for $53.9 million. To an untrained eye, even such an extremely expensive work of art may seem to be only a few lines splashed across a canvas, holding no meaning or appeal. What makes this type of art work worth so much? The answer is found tucked away, almost unnoticeable, in the lower right hand corner-the artists signature. Even if the image on the canvas seems rather ordinary, the name Van Gogh scrawled somewhere on it, makes it priceless. The reason that the artwork is worth so much is simple: It came from the hands of the master. The same is true of humanity. Some people think that human beings are valuable because we have somehow acquired worth in a meaningless universe. Psalm 8 teaches that what makes us worthwhile is the fact that we are made in the image of God. In spite of our sinfulness, in spite of the fact that we have broken God's laws and warped His creation, we still bear the image of the One who made us. We are not God's image bearers because we are good but because He created us. Our worth is based on His work, not on our goodness- which is a good thing because we are full of sinfulness. We are like a masterpiece that has had mud and filth splattered on it. Underneath the dirt, we still have the master's signature on us. That fact makes each of us the most priceless object in the universe.
My encouragement to you today is to find your worth in the thing that really matters, your relationship with the One who created you, rather than in the stuff that the world may tell you is worthwhile.
Psalm 139:13-18
"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!"
