"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
When the world determines our value
I recently visited my old stomping grounds in the Bay Area, Ca. It amazes me how much God has changed my heart since we moved from California to Idaho. When we lived in California I let the world determine my value. I bought into the lie, like so many of us do, that my “net worth” determined my worth as a human and that the world’s opinion of me established my value. I remember running the rat race and not realizing at the time that I had let money, degrees, material wealth, social status, and a perfect figure (or lack thereof) determine whether or not I felt worthy; worthy of love, worthy of happiness, worthy of a good life. I remember believing that those things led to love, joy, and happiness.
When we find our value in Jesus
Since giving my life to Jesus, He has shown me the source of true love, joy, and happiness. I have found those things by finding my worth and my value in Him.
During my last visit, Jesus gave me new eyes with which to see the Silicon Valley and the rat race that entangles people. As the old feelings of insecurity and inferiority started creeping up inside of me, the Holy Spirit gently reminded me that my worth and my value is in Christ alone. In fact, He reminded me that the “things” I once used to gauge my value, the things of this world, are completely irrelevant to Him. I now understand that the world does not determine my worth; the price Jesus paid for me on the cross does.
The simple truth
The simple truth is this, we all want to feel loved and accepted. Before I met Jesus, I turned to the world to find love and to feel accepted. When I did that, the world always failed me and my heart never felt fulfilled. I could never lose enough weight, or make enough money, or live in a big enough house or get into a good enough school etc. Why does the world fail us? Because the world can’t give what only Jesus can, true love and acceptance.
Jesus frees us
Now that I know the King and have made Him my rock, the world no longer holds this weight over me. I can gain ten pounds and not have a mental break down. I can lose everything but still have everything in Jesus. This doesn’t mean that the enemy does not come to tempt me with these things; this simply means that I have found true freedom from myself in Jesus and I no longer need what the world has to offer me.
Jesus has taught me that the cross determines my value, period. The King of Kings left heaven, and suffered and died for our sins. Heaven went bankrupt, for a world full of sinners. In the end, a personal relationship with Jesus is all that matters because Jesus is LOVE. If we gain the whole world but lose our soul what good is it? If we gain the whole world but have not love, we have nothing. When we give our lives to the King, and His Holy Spirit dwells within us, LOVE pours forth. (Mark 8:36, 1 Corinthians 13, Galatians 5:22-23)
Maybe you are reading this and you don’t know Jesus yet. Maybe you’re thinking “all of this sounds great, but I can’t have a friendship with Jesus because I’ve made too many mistakes.” If that ‘s you right now, please know that those thoughts are all lies. Jesus wants EVERYONE to join Him in His Kingdom and He paid the ultimate price so that ALL could come to Him. It’s the Father's heart that no one should perish and that everyone would have everlasting life in Him. (1 Timothy, 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9)
