Value from the Inside
We often assign value to people from the outside. We meet people (or read about them, read what they write, or hear them speak) and we assign them value based on what’s on the outside . . . on what they do, what they’ve accomplished, their titles, the size of their house, the size of their church, the size of their company, the size of their reputation, the physical shape they are in, or how many Twitter followers they have. That’s how the world assigns value.
But God assigns value from the inside. Every person has immeasurable value to God. When we surrender to God’s love, and God adopts us into His family, we have been bought with a price. We’re the one of lost sheep that’s been found. One out of a hundred.
Everything changed when I first grasped that God deeply loved me and that He wanted to be my Perfect Father. It goes beyond just being forgiven and accepted. Believing and knowing God unconditionally loves me . . . just as I am . . . in my humanity . . . allowed me to move beyond the shame I had buried inside and to forget about the lies I’d believed about myself. I learned that I was truly forgiven and loved from the inside out. I didn’t have to prove anything anymore. Romans 8:1 became real . . . “Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” I got a fresh start.
Knowing we’re loved and cared for regardless of the value the world assigns to us allows us to do our jobs with more confidence and less fear. We have the confidence to accept our calling. To make stronger decisions. To stand up for truth. To take more risk.
And do you know what? The world notices that quiet confidence. Strength of character underpins good decisions and the leaders who make them. In a lost and fallen world, leaders who are confident about who they are and what they stand for actually come to be assigned more value than the climbers who are kissing butts, working crazy hours, and frantically trying to get ahead.
Here’s a quote from psychologist Carl Jung . . .
“The world will ask you who you are, and if you do not know, the world will tell you.”
So maybe the way to increase the value the world assigns you from the outside is to fully accept God’s love and give Him access to what’s on the inside. Ask, “Jesus, what would you have me do?” And do it. Do the next right thing regardless of the (perceived) consequences. Character and faith are built simultaneously, as we do the right thing and watch God show up as we do. Over time, who you are on the inside will be reflected on the outside.
Scripture: See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1)
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Responses (1)
It’s pretty sad the way people assign “value” to others based on social media ranks & ratings, as you say, but it’s very true. I have experienced that very thing myself. Pretty SICK, really, especially when it’s being done by other Christians!