What do you dislike about yourself? Maybe you think you’re not smart, thin, pretty, or successful enough. Perhaps you hate your nose, teeth, hair, height, or temperament. What can you do to change the way you see yourself?
Which will you choose?
You have two choices when it comes to determining your self-worth:
- Let the world determine your value.
This means you’ll measure yourself against man’s unholy standards. You’ll agree to let society tell you how to live, dress, eat, and think. You must be attractive, smart, rich, and don’t forget, kind to the planet. The problem is, when you live by man’s standards, you’ll come up short 10 out of 10 times. There will always be someone smarter, prettier, richer, or more socially savvy than you.
- Let God determine your value.
This means you’ll measure yourself against God’s holy standards. And perhaps you say, “But if I do that, I’ll still come up short!” That’s the very point my friend. God knew you’d fall short, and He loved you so much that He put a redemptive plan in place from before the foundation of the world. It’s called the cross.
What a slippery slope this is! There’s no way out of the mess.
Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people.
Eph. 1:3*
He made a way out!
What a miraculous plan this is! God made a way out of the mess.
In His presence, we come face to face with our sinfulness and depravity. And it drives us to our knees. Our only hope is in the cross. When we see ourselves in light of His holiness, we surrender to Christ. Our sins are washed clean because of His sacrifice and we’re accepted by God (Eph. 1:6).
Now we come to the crux of the matter. Will you really make a conscious decision to dislike or even hate what God paid such a dear price for? Will you tell God that though He gave the most precious thing He had to prove your value, it still wasn’t enough?
Don’t let the world devalue you. Don’t let a focus on your earthly body, status, or possessions derail you. Find your worth in the extraordinary lengths God went to in order to draw you into His kingdom, His family, and His presence.
The price He paid for you is inestimable. He sent His Son to die, not just for all mankind, but for you! I like the way Saint Augustine said it, “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.”
*Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®) © 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
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