Self-Worth


OUTLINE:
  • Definition
  • Our Identity 
  • Our Worth Comes from Who We Are and Whose We Are
  • Adopt God’s View of Our Worthiness 
  • How to Grow in Self-Worth

Definition

The definition of Self-Worth is a sense of one’s own value as a human being. 

Our Identity

  • Our identity includes first and foremost our relationship with God. We are God’s creation, God’s children, each made in the image of God. Each one of us possesses a unique aspect of God. God redeems each one of us so that all together, we can fully reflect God’s glory. 
  • In relation to our family: a daughter or son, a sibling, a grandchild, a cousin.
  • Our status/positions in life: a student; a working professional; a part-timer, an entrepreneur, a manager, an influencer, etc.
  • Our profession: a sanitation worker; an investment banker; a teacher; an engineer; a scientist, etc.
  • The hobbies we enjoy: a Lacrosse player; a swimmer, a tri-athlete, a basketball player; a track and field athlete; a wrestler; a musician; a chess player, etc.
  • The various talents we might possess: artistic; analytical; athletic; mathematical; creative, etc.
  • Our sex: Female or male.
  • Our personality traits: An introvert; an optimist; a pessimist; an extrovert; a doer; a thinker; cautious; adventurous; methodical; carefree, etc
  • We are not defined by any one of the above attributes, as they are aspects of what contributes to us being uniquely us.


Our Worth Comes From Who We Are and Whose We Are

As believers, our worth comes from who we are in relationship with, and who God is. 

God sees us as His masterpiece (Psalm 139:14). He delights in us (Zephaniah 3:17, Psalm 18:19, Isaiah 69:4-5). He is pleased with us (Psalm 149:4). He engraved us in the palms of His hands (Isaiah 49:16). He saw us before the foundation of the world was set (Psalm 139:15-16), and prepared us in advance to do good works (Ephesians 2:10). 

God loves us unconditionally, because each of us was made and crafted by Him. He knew our every day, every action, every thought, every intention, every motive, every word (Psalm 139:1-4) - even before He made us. Nothing surprises Him, that’s why He is able to love us so unconditionally.

Whoever accepts what Christ has done for us on the cross becomes holy, righteous, pure and perfect like God is.

Because God imbued worth into us, we are worthy and are of great worth to Him. And when God is the God of the universe, and He sees us as of great worth, who can possibly compete with His view of us?

Adopt God’s View of Our Worthiness

It behooves us to choose to discard our own view; what others say of us; what others have labeled us with; what the culture says what we need to have, possess, do or be to have worth.

Instead, to take on God’s perspective. Jesus said that a new patch cannot be sewn into an old piece of clothing, as both the patch and the clothing will pull apart (Luke 5:36). 

We therefore need to have brand new mindset in viewing ourselves from God’s perspective. Take off the old (mindset) and put on the new (Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:9-10).

How to Grow in Self-Worth

Whatever we feed in our minds and beliefs are what will grow. Feed daily, therefore, what God states about us through:

  • Time in God’s word to know the truth of His view towards us.
  • Time in prayer to listen to what He says to us, and about us.
  • Time in personal worship to bask in God’s presence and embrace. Be filled with His love for us; His grace that forgives and strengthens us; His mercy in our times of struggle.
  • Time to chew (ingest) and digest God’s truth through meditating on God’s word.
  • Time to memorize God’s words so the truths of God can be there for us in each moment.
  • To put into action what we learn, know and experience of God’s truths and His dictates to us so that we might grow in our faith.
The best way to learn is a combination of didactic learning and experiencing the reality of what we are being taught.

Apply what God says about us; His relationship with us; Him endowing us with His worth because we belong to Him. 

Some stores have this saying: 1) The customer is always right. 2) When in doubt, go back to #1.

Similarly, we need to remind ourselves of: 1) What God thinks of us and states about our worth: Who we are to Him. 2) When in doubt, go back to #1. 


Application:

  • Know we are: God’s unique creation with our personalities, character traits, likes, preferences, giftings and talents, inclinations, and hobbies.
  • Ground our identities in our relationship with God our Creator, Christ our Savior, and the Holy Spirit Who indwells us.
  • Embrace our worth through God’s view of us.
  • Grow in our worth by actively applying God’s truth and combat any and everything that says to the contrary of what God says about us.

Blog Post on "Our Worth"


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