Worth

“Long lay the world in sin and error pining

’til He appeared and the soul felt its worth.” 

(O Holy Night)

I was watching an online class last Friday morning,  I had no idea what was going on outside my room.  The class was called, “Counter-Terrorism.”  The teacher was very good at explaining a terrorist and what motivates him.  He spoke of what recruiters look for when trying to find a suicide bomber candidate.  He said the terrorists look for anyone who feels they have lost all control of their life and that the only choice they have left is to choose how to die.  I was so stunned by that statement.  In recent years I have lost alot.  But I never got to the point where I felt I had nothing.

I realized that what gave me hope in the midst of a total lack of control over my life, was knowing the One who was in control…God.  I had times where I felt it would be easier to die rather than continue to endure all that was going wrong in my life.  But God, in the Person of Jesus Christ, gave me hope.  I never felt worthless, despite the fact that in the eyes of the world, I was a failure.  My worth does not come from “the eyes of the world.”  My Worth comes from the one who loved me so much that He came down to earth over two thousand years ago, and lived to die for me, and for anyone who would believe Him.

The Gospel is the simplest story of love in all the world.  It is the greatest story of sacrifice and love.  And the best part about the story of Jesus, is that it is the truth.  Jesus appeared to the world, and all who would look to Him, all who would seek Him, all who would take the time to truly come to know Him, these people would understand their true worth.

I did an in-depth word study on Matthew 16:24-26 “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.  FOR WHOEVER WISHES TO SAVE HIS LIFE WILL LOSE IT, BUT WHOEVER LOSES HIS LIFE FOR MY SAKE WILL FIND IT. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

What I discerned from the deeper meanings of the Greek language was this.

“WHOEVER TRIES TO MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF HIS OWN LIFE WILL LOSE HIS LIFE.  BUT ANYONE WHO CHOOSES TO GIVE HIS LIFE TO ME(JESUS) AND TRUSTS ME TO INFUSE PURPOSE, MEANING AND WORTH INTO IT, THIS PERSON WILL FIND HIS LIFE.”

God is the only one who can truly give us a sense of worth.  I know I am loved by God, and that makes all of my life, as small and seemingly meaningless as it might seem to anyone else, worthwhile.

Amen and Amen