Worth

“You are worth more than many sparrows….”  Mat. 6

There are several questions we all ask.  Questions that somehow plague us all.  They are questions of meaning, purpose and worth.  Why am I here?  What am I here to do? What gives meaning to my existence?  And, last, do I have worth and value?  Do I matter?

These are questions each of us struggle with.  Just for a moment I want to discuss this grand idea of worth.  It’s something each of us wonder about…am I worth anything? How do I know?  These questions and struggles are revealed in our insecurities, our uncertainties, our frequent search for approval and acceptance.  We all need worth.  We all need to matter, to make a difference in some way.

Because this desire for worth is so important to us we try to achieve it by what we do.  Success, cars, money, busy lives all give us the sense that we are valuable, that we are worth something.  But it’s never what you do or what you have that establishes worth…..

….it’s who loves you.  Worth is measured by who cares about you even if you had nothing.  Worth is about who loves you when you’re mean, angry, unhappy or just unlovable.  Worth, true worth, is never about what you do or have, but about who loves you when you do and have nothing at all!

In Matthew 6 Jesus made a value statement about us that should be heard.  He said, in the midst of our worries and striving after things, “you are worth much more….”  Worth much more to who?  Who is setting this value? Who is it that thinks I’m worth anything at all? 

God says so.  In his value system you have worth.

Now, take God out of the picture, as the atheist has done, and how do we find worth, how do we find our value?  For a man without God it comes down to what you do and what you have.  But what if all of that is gone, taken away?  Then what?

God say you have worth to him.  How much?  Here’s your value- he values you so much that he gave the best thing he had to purchase your freedom, to make you his son or daughter. 

How’s that for worth?

He values you so much that he wants you to spend eternity with him.  HE REALLY LIKES YOU!  You may not feel you have worth to anyone in the world, but the God who made you thinks you are awesome!  He loves you. 

Feeling a bit worthless today?  The one who made you loves you and wants you to be his child.  He wants to spend time with you.  He thinks you have worth!  How could anything the world offers compare to that?