Where Do I Find My Value?

Matthew 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

When I was in kindergarten, as my last name is Abrams, I was at the front of the lunch line every day.  I thought myself to be quite a big deal until we turned the line around halfway through the year.  Then big deal was reduced to end of the line.  I was not happy.  I know how silly it sounds now, but my front of the line status gave me value and I was crushed when it was taken away.

As ridiculous as it sounds, I still do this.  I find my value from that in the world which feeds my appetite for significance.  If it feeds my pride, I embrace it.  If it humbles me, I shrink from it.  I eat up the praise of men and feel valuable when acknowledged by others.  If I am slighted or someone says something derogatory, it wrecks my day.

Jesus warned me of this.  He said that I am not to place my value on the world or derive my significance from that which feeds my pride.  I am valuable because I know God and He knows me.  The creator of the universe knows the number of hairs on my head and the most important thing about me is that He loves me.

I should not need stars on my art project and I should not require affirmation from those around me to feel good about myself.  Building my value on such a fickle, vain, and unstable foundation will always wreck me in the end.  I do this even with good things in life.  If I find all my worth and value is in my children, they too will eventually fail in some way, shattering my self-esteem.

Finding my value in God is not natural.  If I do not purposefully choose to find my value in him, I naturally find it in unhealthy ways. It is an action I must choose daily.  It is not just a leap of the mind and it is not something I do just once.  I can choose God today and then be seduced back to the world by my ego tomorrow.

My value will lie where I spend my time and energy.  If I check social media a thousand times a day to see how many likes I have, I cannot insist to myself that my value is in God.  If I am obsessed with the affirmation of the world, I am finding my value there.  If I find my value in God, my actions will reflect it and I will pray, read and talk to him all day.  I cannot claim my value is in God and then act in a manner completely contrary to that value.

God knows me and loves me.  He longs for me to find my value and significance in him.  Do I believe this? If so, do I live like it?