Worth, Worthy

<<value/deserving>>

God alone is deserving of our worship, our utmost love and the total devotion of our whole lives for what He has done, is doing now and is yet to do. We can be confident that He, who ‘began a good work in us’, is able to bring it to completion, knowing if it wasn’t for His grace and mercy we would still be headed for a lost eternity (Ps 18:3; Mk 12:30; Eph 2:12; Phil 1:6). David declared, “I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise…” (2 Sam 22:4).

By God’s criteria our worth is not based on anything we have done or will ever do, rather it comes from being made in His image and through accepting His offer of salvation. Then we are destined for heaven as His treasured possession, made righteous through Christ (Gen 1:26,27; Jn 3:16; 2 Cor 5:21; Eph 1:13,14). Thus our true worth is assigned to us by God who sees us of inestimable value for in His foreknowledge (and with love) Christ chose to pay the price to redeem us, affording humanity the opportunity to come back into the relationship with God that had been destroyed by sin (Eph 1:4-8,11). Throughout eternity the cry will be “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power...with your blood you purchased mankind” (Rev 4:11, 5:9,12).

If God sees when a common sparrow dies how much more is He concerned about those who are His workmanship (Mt 10:29-31; Eph 2:10). When we receive Christ, God records our names in heaven, sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts and gives us the right to be called His own children (Lk 10:20;

I am of infinite worth – Jesus valued me so much He died for me

Jn 1:12; 2 Cor 1:22; Gal 4:6; Phil 4:3). God values us highly; we should accept His judgment and live with our heads held high. From this perspective, we can truly respect and value others, seeing them as people for whom Christ died and what they can become “in Him’ – just as we are. Unfortunately, we are inclined to judge human worth (incorrectly) by placing more value on what a person accomplishes, owns or contributes to society than their being a creation of God. This risks us ‘using’ people instead of loving them – the reverse of what God wants us to do. As we focus on how much God loves us and the price He paid to redeem us, we’ll come to see ourselves as God sees us, and how much we’re really worth as children of the most high God – an assessment which is not performance-based (1 Jn 3:1).

The Master Potter, who sees our potential, desires to transform us from ‘just a lump of clay’ into useful vessels, fulfilling our God-given calling on earth (Isa 64:8; Jer 18:4; 2 Tim 2:20,21). Even as precious metals contaminated by impurities must be refined, so our lives need to be cleansed of sin and all the blemishes of our fallen nature removed so we can be of greater use to Him. In love and appreciation we must embrace what is specifically designed for us, to bring about the death of the old, sinful, fleshly nature; if this is not the case we are not worthy to be called His child, as something else has taken the place that He alone is to occupy in our lives (Ex 20:3; Mt 10:37, 22:37; 1 Thes 2:12).

While we can't earn our position or standing in God, how we live should confirm what we say we believe and our profession of being His children. Because we are now in right standing with God, we should live holy and Godly lives that match up to the sacrifice Jesus made (Eph 4:1; 1 Thes 2:12, 4:7; 2 Pet 3:11). God in His grace chose us to be holy

Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord – Colossians 1:10

and blameless in His sight, walking in newness of life (Rom 6:4; Eph 1:4; Col 1:10-12). This requires us to live disciplined lives in thought, word and action with total dependence on Him.

By living for Christ regardless of our circumstances we will be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God, especially those severely persecuted or martyred for their faith; their reward is yet to come (2 Thes 1:5; Heb 11:38; Rev 2:10, 12:11, 20:4-6). The message to those who have not soiled their clothes in the world’s filth is they are worthy to walk with God dressed in white (Rev 3:4).

We are to give to others the compliments and encouragement they deserve and show honour even when they fail, as true value is not based on accomplishments. Similarly, we ourselves are vulnerable to shame, condemnation and disappointment when our best efforts fail and we feel overlooked, Satan attacks through this negative default setting in our minds. It must be confronted with the truth – a healthy estimation based on God’s true assessment. Although the Bible warns against thinking of ourselves more highly than we should, a realistic love of self is not wrong when it is grounded in what God has accomplished for us and in us (Rom 12:3).