Got Worth?

What a sinner I am!
Wretch!
Useless!
Debased!
Carnal!
Inherently sinful and disgraced!
Worthless!

How many times do these thoughts enter our minds regarding our awareness of our sinful and depraved ways? Being perfected into Christ’s likeness, we desire his complete likeness and having been made aware of that which is not like him, we get repulsed at the evil things that sometimes slip into our life and cause us to stumble on the narrow road. Falling upon our knees in the dust, we cry out to a holy and perfect God, declaring our unholiness.
But that’s not what he desires.
See, our loving Father paid the price for every sin we’ve ever committed or ever will commit two thousand years ago. But sometimes I think we as Christians miss out on something the Father of Lights desires for his children to embrace.
Our worth.
What?
We’re worthless, you say.
Completely and utterly deserving.
Depraved sinners.
Yes and no.
Yes we were enslaved to sin, without hope, completely lost in the endless pit of sin and shame.
But that’s past tense.
I think something that’s heartbreaking to our heavenly Lover is when we get stuck in our past. He took our sin and shame and washed us completely clean, and sees us as perfect.
Perfect.
Why would we believe anything but what the Creator of E minor says? Why? He paid the price to not only deal with sin but with shame, and shame has to do with guilt, and guilt has to do with being guilty, and being guilty with being condemned and Jesus scorned these things at the cross, and declared them void over his children who believe in him.
When we live in shame we make light of the finished work on the cross.
What we’re saying is “Yes God, I believe you died for me, but I don’t believe it was enough.”
If we believed what he accomplished was enough we would stop obsessing over our self-imposed worthlessness and living in shame and declaring our sinfulness over and over again.
Christ didn’t die so that you and I could be become more aware of our sin, he died so we could become more aware of Him. He didn’t die so that we could live a life of repentance, he died so we could live a life of holiness. He didn’t die so that we could realize our lostness, he died so that we could find our home in him. He didn’t die so that we could become confessing Christians, he died so that we could become sons and daughters of the Living God.
I want to make something very clear, that I feel is lacking in many Christian circles, because it’s uncomfortable to say.
You have worth.
You are worth something to God. He cherishes you, he values you. Too often we shy away from these terms, deeming them “humanistic” or “self-centered”, but they’re not. Humanism says “I deserve everything because I am good and worthy of praise.”
God says, “You deserve nothing, but because I am good and I made you, you have worth to me, and I am worthy of your praise.”
We aren’t worthy of his love.
But we aren’t worthless.
We are worth something.
Can we please stop dressing ourselves in sackcloth and ashes and lamenting our lack of holiness already? That’s not of God. It may seem holy to do so, but really it’s still centered on self, because it concentrates on how unworthy and sinful we are instead of concentrating on how worthy and lovely HE IS.
He made us, he loves us, and he values us. We bear the image of the Great I Am; how can we say we have no worth? He valued us so much he paid the ultimate price to gain us back into his family. I’d say that was worth a lot. And if he truly died out of love for us, then I think he might think us worth something. And if we’re worth something, we need to walk in that knowledge and authority: as sons and daughters of the Uncreated One. When we see our worth and realize our perfect identity in Him, we give him honor and glory because it’s only by his love and grace have we been brought up from the mud and given worth. Anyone can repent. Anyone can wail and mourn over the plight of their sin, and cut themselves with rocks until they bleed.
Anyone.
But not everyone can see their worth, and realize that they are cherished by He who painted the first sunrise and strung the galaxies together. That takes a miracle. The miracle of redemption. To redeem something is to gain back that which was lost, to exchange something to get back its original value. If we are redeemed we have value once again. Why should we not walk in that?
Trade your sackcloth in for garments of pure white.
Pick yourself up out of the dust and go dance with your Heavenly Father in the meadow of everlasting love and peace. He’s waiting for you with open arms.
Cherished.
Loved.
Forgiven.
Redeemed.
Valued.
Pure.
Full of worth.

This is how he sees you.
The question is, do you believe it?

“Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows”

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

“He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.”

“But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”

“The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

“Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.”