You – yes, you! – are God's best!
Don’t miss these five truths about your value and significance.
By Dr. Dan Erickson
CrossCurrents Magazine, April 2007
While eating at a restaurant, my wife Cathy and I began a casual conversation with a young woman who served us. I said to her, “You know, you are a wonderful person.”
“How do you know that?” she asked. “We just met.”
I told her that she was wonderfully made by God, and that He does not make junk.
“I feel like junk,” she retorted.
Cathy and I looked into her sorrowful eyes and, with the love of God, shared how special and valuable she was to God and to us. Over the next few months, we became a representative of “God in skin” to her.
You may feel empty and unfulfilled, or you may think of yourself as junk, but I want to tell you that you are God’s best. He loves you and is pleased with you, because you are His. You are valuable to Him!
Understanding our value as God’s best gives us the basis to say no to things that are second best and yes to fulfilling our God-given potential and destiny. The first step toward that is the need to comprehend both the lies and truths about our true value.
Lie No. 1: My value is based on what others feel and think about me.
Are you motivated or immobilized by what other people think and say about you? If you let their opinions drive you, you will always be disappointed.
Truth No. 1: My true value is found in what God sees and what He feels about me.
God loves us and is pleased with us. He loves and delights in us because we are His. When we understand this, we will begin to see ourselves in light of how God sees us, and we can love ourselves the way Christ loves us.
Lie No. 2: My value is based on what I think about myself.
How do you feel about yourself? Too often we measure ourselves by the superficial standards of this world. If we do that, we will be plagued by guilt and condemnation.
Truth No. 2: My true value is based on what Christ did for me.
When God sees us, He sees us as we will become, through the lens of Christ’s death and resurrection. God sees us just as He sees His Son.
Lie No. 3: My value is based on my achievements and success.
Many people find their worth in what they do, in the position they hold or in the things they own. These are all fragile things to build a self-image upon.
Truth No. 3: My true value is found in my relationship with God.
Paul declares that nothing can separate us from God’s love. It is unconditional and constant (Romans 8:35).The result is that we can live in freedom and not in condemnation.
Lie No. 4: My value is conditional on my behavior, sins, mistakes or failures.
God’s love for us is not conditional or based on our behavior or our past. Grace declares that our true value is guaranteed by what Jesus completed on the cross. Period.
Truth No. 4: God values me as I am and is transforming me by the work of the Holy Spirit.
God is transforming us, molding us and chiseling away what doesn’t belong so that our character is changed to be like that of Jesus.
Lie No. 5: My value is something I have to earn or deserve.
We could never be good enough or spiritual enough to earn or deserve God’s favor.
Truth No. 5: My true value propels me to my true potential and destiny.
When we understand Christ’s unconditional love for us, we are motivated to become all that He wants us to be.
Because God is creating His unique image in us, we can live out who we really are in Christ. The truths about our value point to one thing: We are His best! When I am living out my true value:
- I love myself with the same love with which God loves me.
- I attempt to live out (be) who I really am.
- I pursue God’s best for me.
- I determine to be God’s best by submitting to the Holy Spirit within me.
- I commit to succeed at the things that really matter.
- I can live a life that echoes in eternity
Do you believe the lies or the truths about your true value? How you answer this question will define or confine your potential and destiny.
What are you? You are God’s best! Now be who you really are. Imagine the possibilities!
Dr. Dan Erickson, author of “Finding Your Greater Yes!” (Thomas Nelson Publishers) is chief servant leader of People Matter Ministries (www.peoplematterministries.com).