In last month’s publication, we began our series on our identity in Christ. Our first lesson was on self-esteem, which is defined as: “the manner in which we evaluate ourselves. It is our internal assessment of our qualities and attributes.”1 All people feel self-conscious about certain things about themselves that they wish were different. At times there may be unhealthy things about ourselves that we should consider working on, not because of the unrealistic pressures of this world, but for the betterment of our health. That said, we need to guard our hearts from the influences of the world that want to coerce us into believing that we are not as good as others in various categories. Remember, David writes in Psalm 139:13-14, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.” We are fearfully and marvelously made by God, our master Creator.
The best way to have healthy self-esteem is to have clear self-worth. “Self-worth is the belief that you are loveable and valuable regardless of how you evaluate your traits. In this way, your self-esteem could hit rock bottom, yet you still hold onto the notion that you have innate worth.”2 What does the Bible say about self-worth, and where we as Christians should get our self-worth from? Let me share two answers.
Innate worth
We get our self-worth from recognizing and accepting the fact that not only are we fearfully and wonderfully made, but we are made by God Himself. At various stages of creation, God looked at what He had created and “saw that it was good.” But after He created people, “God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31a). Every person was created by God, and that gives us innate worth. The most expensive paintings and sculptures receive their worth not necessarily because of what they are made from, but because of the artists who created them. When we consider the physical attributes that we don’t like about ourselves or are self-conscious about, let’s remember that many of those things were placed there carefully and deliberately by the Master’s hands.
An even greater factor of our innate worth is that we were made in the image of God. Though God also made animals, we are worth more to Him than the animals because we were made in His own image. Jesus says in Matthew 10:31, “you are of more value than many sparrows.”
To be made in God’s image includes several things. We were given various features that separate us from the rest of creation. We were given a pure soul. We were also given the ability to think, reason, and love. Humans were a perfect masterpiece formed by the Master’s hands. But then sin marred our souls. Does that make us less valuable to God? Not at all! He loves every person, and still dearly wants to have a relationship with each one of us.
Worth by association
This brings us to a second factor that gives us worth. We have worth because of God’s association with us. Sometimes artists make things that they’re not happy with. Even famous artists discard artwork that they are not satisfied with. But not God. Everything He makes has worth to Him, especially our eternal souls. He loves us. How do we know that God loves us? By the price that He paid for our souls. Could you imagine loving something so much, that you would be willing to give up everything else, in exchange for it? That’s what God did for us. Paul says in Romans 5:7-8, “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Through Jesus’ sacrifice, we know that we are of great worth. And although sin marred the masterpiece of humanity, Jesus (the Artist) came to earth to mend His masterpiece and re-write His authorship on our hearts and lives. When an artwork has been authenticated, meaning proven to belong to a famous artist, it immediately receives great value. Now just imagine how God feels about us, when we accept His salvation and His leadership in our lives. Listen to what Isaiah records in Isaiah 43:1, “But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.’” Have we accepted God’s salvation? Then we are His and are of great worth to Him.
Since God gave everything to redeem our souls, He is deeply interested and invested in our lives. David knew this very well. That’s why he writes in Psalm 139:17-18a, “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand.” When we love someone, our thoughts are often filled with that person. God’s thoughts are filled with His love for us. He’s constantly thinking about how He can help us in our lives, provide for our needs and use us for His kingdom. When we make investments, we become very interested in how they do over time. Maybe one day, you’ll own real-estate, or stocks, or collectibles; and you’ll watch the markets to see how they do. God is continually interested in our lives, not to receive some gain for Himself, but because He loves us, wants to help us and desires the very best for us. If God is that interested in us, certainly we have worth to Him.
It is easy for our self-perception to be influenced by our circumstances and by those around us. The world has its standards of what it says people should be like and look like. Christians can be tempted to use these standards to evaluate themselves; however, it is very dangerous for us to let our self-esteem and our self-worth be influenced by the world. Jesus says the world hates us. Why would we want to be like the world? We need a different standard to measure our lives with. As Christians we can have a healthy self-esteem because we know that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Our self-worth is given to us by God, the Artist who made us wonderful. If we’re born again, we have the signature of Christ written on our hearts. We are His, and that makes us priceless. We know that we are of great worth because God loves us and paid the ultimate price for us to be His. And because it cost Him so much, He watches over us day and night and promises to never leave us nor forsake us. No matter what the world says, we are of great value. May we never forget that.
David Knelsen
Hamilton, ON
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