Friday, 14 May 2010

• Self-Worth: The True Value of You

  By Beka at GodlySheep

  If you were asked to describe yourself in a few words, what you would say? Maybe that you are the life of the party, the computer geek, or the frazzled mother? It all comes down to the way we view ourselves or our self-worth. Self-worth is concept so many of us struggle with, not just teenagers.

  It’s addressed to kids. A while back, I checked out a library book for the kids I nanny for. It was about self-worth being an issue among the jungle animals. In the story, every animal admired and wished to have the body part of another jungle animal. The lion wished to have the beautiful bright colors of the macaw. Yet, the macaw wished to have the strong legs of the elephant. In the end, the animals all realized that they were admired by another animal. And that made them feel content to be themselves.

  Self-worth is a topic mom’s struggle with. The other day, I was reading an article about a mom’s low self-esteem issues. She described herself as “just a mom and just a homemaker.”

  There are actually self-worth workshops. A workshop in California welcomes you to participate for the price of $300. There are websites that offer quizzes to find out your worth as well. One website (humanforsale.com) tallies up how much you would literally be worth on the open market, based on your physical traits, intellect, achievements, etc…

  When we think of self-worth, there are usually a few predominate ideas that come to mind.

  *Such as appearances or outer beauty—It’s easy to obtain low self-esteem when we flip through magazines like Vogue or see People’s list of the most attractive people in the world. Hollywood’s portrayal of beauty makes it easy to start criticizing our every little flaw.

  *Achievements and social status—Having titles after our name, being involved in the most activities at church, or volunteering for the most organizations in the community can make us feel valuable for the wrong reasons.

  But “It’s not what’s on the outside, but what’s on the inside that counts!” We’ve heard this quote 867 times, but the simplicity of its message holds true. You have to be able to accept yourself before you can have any self-worth. We are human. We all have zits, think our ears stick out too far, our nose resembles Pinocchio’s, or struggle to fit into our favorite pair of jeans. But God made us the way we are for a reason, and only His approval matters. He made each one of us unique.

  Deuteronomy 14: 2 says, “For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto Himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.” God calls us a peculiar people. American Heritage’s Dictionary defines peculiar as “distinct from all others” and “special or unique”.

  So where can we get our self-worth? We can find it in God’s gift for us. John 3:16 talks of God’s sacrifice for us on the cross. We were sinners destined for Hell, but God valued us enough to send His only Son to die for us. Just the fact that we are saved, gives us something worth living for.

  We can also find it in God’s love for us. Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This is God’s promise. He will never stop loving us or being our best friend. Hebrews 13:5b says that God will never leave us. Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart.” Proverbs 18:24 says, “There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” Let God’s extreme love and devotion for us be the scale that measures our self-worth.

  We can also find our value from God’s Word. God created each of us as a unique treasure. There are numerous verses that declare this truth. Psalm 139:14 says that “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Let this be the standard of our self-worth. Forget the world’s veiw, and hold onto God’s view. His is the only one that matters.

  What about you……do you struggle with self-worth? If so, what lowers your self-worth?

  What ways do you strengthen your self-worth?

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