Human Worth

I recently had a couple of days where I failed at a few things. In a couple of cases, I was asked to do something for someone, and I missed one step in the process. And that step turned out to be crucial to the process. In another case, I was asked to do something, and, then, I thought I was told to forget it. Of course, I was not told to forget it.

No one died. There world did not come to ant end. There was some inconvenience. But I was sad, felt like a failure, and felt like I had no worth. Looking back, I can see that I began to behave in a way that sought approval, and validation.

Then, one night, as I was getting ready for bed, I realized that down inside, I held a belief that I needed to do right (or, at least, not do wrong) to have worth.

Another common theme, across humanity, is a yearning for stuff that reinforces our worth. We look for events that say we matter, have worth, or feed our spirits. As followers of Jesus, we need to agree with the Bible, that, in themselves, there is no one who is worthy. Sin corrupts any worth intrinsic in human beings. Not Mother Theresa, nor Billy Graham, nor anyone else is worthy in themselves. And there is nothing anyone can do to gain, or earn, worth.

But, also, as followers of Jesus, we need to agree with the Bible, that human beings have immeasureable worth. Their worth does not come from what they do, rather it comes from who they are. People have worth, because they are created by God, for realtionship with God, and in his image.

And the perfect demonstration of a person's worth is the payment God made to reconnect with people, after sin brought about seperation. God was born into the world, in the person of Jesus, who proclaimed God's love, and died for mankind's sin, to satisfy god's justice, to redeem a family for himself, and to express that love. The worth of something is the price one pays for it. And Jesus paid the ultimate price for us all.

He did not pay the price for just righeous people. He did not pay the price for just good people. He paid the price for all people. Which means all people have immeasurable woth. Dictators, drug dealers, slave traders, rapists, and mass murderers all have immeasurable worth, because an immeasurable price was paid for them.

An immeasurable price was paid for all. But not all have reaped the benefits. One reaps when one decides to follow Jesus, when one gives him allegiance. So, those, without allegiance, have no relationship, do not begin to live as intended. But the price was paid, and God declares how he values them.

We will all continue to fail. We can never achieve worth by what we do. We can learn to live in God's valuation of us.

How does one live, who recognizes, and holds, the worth that God gives him?