Where do you find your value? What things make you feel valuable?
I saw an interview the other day with an MMA fighter. For years she had been unbeaten in every fight. She had reached number one in MMA, even over the men, and carried with her a lot of bravado. She was the best and everyone else was beneath her. In late 2015 she lost her first fight. In the opening moments she was hit so hard in the jaw that her teeth became dislodged. Her brain was so affected that her perception of depth was distorted. She could no longer tell how far her hand was to her face. As a result, she lost the fight.
She broke down in tears as she shared of her recovery in the days that followed her loss. After she lost the fight, she felt she was nothing and no good to anyone if she wasn’t the world’s best. She even contemplated suicide. I was shocked that a person who exuded confidence, bordering on arrogance, could see herself as nothing. How could she believe she was useless after experiencing failure. What would cause a person to contemplate suicide if she was not number 1 in the world?
What do you consider is the most valuable thing about you? Is your value resting on a knife-edge, so much so, that if one thing goes wrong all your value and purpose in life would be gone?
This is a really dangerous place to be. If we rest all that we are on such temperamental things we are setting ourselves up for failure. When we base our worth on people’s opinions we are headed for a let down. If our worth is based on performance we will be devastated when we experience failure.
What is True Worth?
So what is true worth? How do we base our value in healthy things that are strong and true? The healthiest way to determine our value is based on Christ and His love for us.
However, I think that sometimes we even distort that by basing our value on what God does for us rather than who He is. This is also a very slippery slope. If we place our value on what He does for us, what happens when He is seemingly silent to our cries for help? It also opens us up to the fatal game of comparison. God must play favorites because it appears He is working in someone else’s life far more than it seems in ours.
When we base our value on who Christ is rather than what He does for us we will be standing on solid ground because His character never changes. He is the same yesterday today and forever Hebrews 13:8. When our situation or relationships change we still know our value because it is God who speaks it into our lives.
I am not encouraging you to change something that I have not struggled with myself. Even to this day I have to check myself to make sure I am not placing a high value on other people’s opinions or on the position I hold.
You don’t have to do life with your value teetering on a knife-edge. You are so valuable to God and that will never change. Challenge yourself to take the time to discover how valuable you are to God and then let this truth sink deep into your heart.
Although peoples opinions and our position may change, our value in God remains the same.
Lord, Thank You for valuing me. Thank You that your love is unshakable and although people opinions and my position may change Your love for me is constant. Amen
There is so much more to say on this topic. If you want to know more pre order a copy of my latest book I’m Enough. It is going to help you not only understand where these thoughts come from but how you can navigate them. By ordering now, you will also receive a free journal so you can put these truths into action.
