The Germany Family Blog

Am I valuable?

The world assesses our value according to our benefit to them.

We want to be valued so we try to make ourselves beneficial. We accept this formula.

My value comes from my benefit.

So we study, work out, practice and prepare. We try to hone our strengths and cover our weaknesses. We want to be recognized as beneficial, so that others will affirm that we are valuable.

Those who sing well are put on concert stages to soothe us with music.

Those who make us laugh are put on comedy stages to humor us.

Those who act well are put on movie screens to entertain us.

Those who study well are put in classrooms to educate us.

Those who are beautiful are put on magazine covers to sell products, or worse, to sell themselves.

Those who are not exceptional are given the opposite message. You are not valuable because you cannot deliver.

If you are not deemed attractive, you are overlooked. If you are not funny, you are ignored. If you are not brilliant, you are mocked for your dullness. If you cannot entertain us, you are scorned.

So we all put our best foot forward, hoping no one will see the other foot. We focus on what others value. If we have a specific skill or quality that makes us beneficial to others, we put it first and hide behind it.

And the formula takes its toll. Day by day the formula is driven deeper.

My value lies in my benefit to others.

And while we try to prove our worth, we fear that we are only putting on a facade that others will eventually see past.

And two horrendous thoughts terrify us.
1. What if I can no longer deliver?
2. What if I really am worthless, not valuable? What if I don’t measure up?

We fear the day when we can no longer deliver. For an actress, it is when she gets old. For a singer, it is when his voice cracks and won’t recover. For a scholar it is when she flunks the test. For a comedian, it is the day when his jokes fall flat, never to rise.

And while we flee from that day, all along we know it will come with sheer devastating force. But we try to avoid it, outrun it. Over come it. Avoid it.

And the fear grows inside us. Maybe we are worthless. Maybe we are just tools, toys, treasures for others to enjoy, exploit and then eradicate.

That is the day we fear. That is the thought we fear. And that fear alone can destroy us.

Stories of people like Heath Ledger, Ana Nicole Smith, Earnest Hemmingway. Prized for their beauty, performance and brilliance.

Two overdosed running from their fear and the other killed himself. Their fear of rejection became deadly. The formula had its toll.

A young girl in India that jumps off a bridge after failing her exams.

A business man that jumps out of a Wall Street window because his company folds.

A fifteen year old who takes his life because he believes he will always be lonely and rejected.

Each are victims of the formula.

The problem is that the formula is wrong. It is the worlds formula. It is satans formula. He does not love us. He does not value us. He only exploits us to accomplish his purpose: to strike pain into the heart of God. To destroy what God has created. To him we are only pawns on the battle field of spiritual warfare.

Satan will use us and destroy us in the process. He does not value us. He values only what we can do for him and his purposes.

But God has a different formula. Satan’s formula is devastating later, but gratifying up front. We like to think we are worth something because that gives us pride. It means we are better than others. And the easiest way to show it is to prove our worth by benefitting someone.

But God crushes our pride from the very beginning. His formula is different.

This is God’s formula:

We are of no benefit to God, but great value.

How can this be? What am I worth if I am of no benefit?

You are worth everything.

This truth is both devastating and exhilarating. Painful and liberating. Humbling and wonderful.

My value does not lie in what I do for others, or how I can benefit them. God does not value me for what I can do for him.

Then why does God value me? Where does my value come from.

Not from my holiness- because I am not.
Not from my brilliance, because I am not.
Not from my beauty, because I am not.
Not from my humor, because it is not.

Then where?

From God himself. I am valued because God is love. God loves me. God wants me. God desires me.

God does not need me.
God does not depend on me.
God does not lack without me.

God is sufficient.
God is able.
God is good.

God is not lonely.
God is not desperate.
God is not deficient.

God is love.

He made me who he wants me to be.
He delights in me as I am.
He will satisfy me with joy in his presence.
He has a good plan for me that I will enjoy.
He will use my pains to make me more like himself.
He will bring glory to himself through my submission, worship and service to him.

He sends me as an ambassador of His love.

Ah hah! There it is. There is my benefit to him! That is why he needs me!

Missionaries often make this mistake. We think our high calling translates to high value. We are more beneficial because we do such an important work for God. Therefore we must be more valuable. This is what makes us special. That is why we are important.

No!!!!!!!

You are important to God because God is love. God loves you. Even when God wants to use you, he has to call you to die so that he can get you out of his way and shine through you.
Every time he tries to use you, your pride pops us and his glory cannot shine through because your glory is hogging His show.

But missionaries think this way. We think the difficulty of our mission, the priority of our mission, the urgency of our missions shows how important we are.

What makes our missions so vital, urgent, important is not the benefit it provides to God. Our mission is urgent, vital and important because God loves the world so much. It is not important because we are important. It is important because God loves them, values them, as he values you. Not for what you can do for him. Not for what they can do for him. Just because he values them. He loves them.

How much can they be worth if they are of not benefit. How much can I be worth if I am of no benefit to him.

Everything. He gave his son, himself, the best, the most precious to save us. We are worth so much.

This makes my worth:
Effortless
Eternal
Permanent
Impartial
Consistent

I can rest in God’s love and share it with others. Not to make myself valuable to him. Because i am valuable to him. And so are they. Regardless of what we do. Good or bad. We are valuable to him. You are valuable to him. You are loved!!!! By God!!!!!
Permanently. Eternally.

God loves you.