The Secret of Self-Worth

Next Saturday, the town I live in is hosting an all town garage sale. Usually, I'm out looking for deals, but this year I have decided to join the sellers. The idea of having a garage sale really stresses me out. I have to clean out, sort through and gather from throughout the house. The worst part for me, though, is the pricing. I don't like pricing! It is so hard to determine the worth of something. One gal's trash is another girl's treasure.

This is true when we look in the mirror, too. What if someone asked you what you are worth? How do you determine your self-worth?

If you are like most people, you might base your self-worth on what others think about you or you might compare yourself to others who you think are somehow better than or less than you.

At our teen girls' Bible study last night, we looked at three ways the world determines the worth of a person and then we contrasted them to the way God determines our worth.

#1 Worth = What You Look Like

We are bombarded by a culture that judges people's worth by touched up photos of skinny models. So, we end of thinking that if we don't look right, if we don't have the right brand of jeans or the right hair cut or perfect make-up, we somehow don't measure up.

Here's some truth:

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
Psalms 139:14

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Genesis 1:26-27, 31

God formed you with his own hands, and it was very good. You are wonderfully and purposefully created by God. Let's rewrite the world's first formula for worth.

Worth = God Made Me Special in His Image

#2 Worth = What You Do

Looks aren't everything to the world. We are also judged by our performance. Even your parents push you to get good grades and do well. Colleges are looking for students who are at the top of their class and active in community service and leadership. You feel pressure to make the varsity team, to be the good girl, to be a hard worker. These are not bad things, but they should not determine your worth.

Here is some truth that might hurt a little:

All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Isaiah 64:6

Ouch. Did that just say God sees all of our righteous acts like filthy rags? All my accomplishments, abilities, achievements, good deeds, efforts, performances, skills, talents and triumphs are worthless to God?

The truth is God does not put conditions on His approval. When you accept Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord, He loves you no matter what. Your worth comes from Him, not from your actions. Let's rewrite the world's second formula for worth.

Worth = What Jesus Did For Me

#3 Worth = What Others Think of Me

We have a deep desire to fit in, to be accepted, to gain the approval of others and sometimes that leads us to people-pleasing actions that are opposite of what God would have for us.

Here is some truth:

How amazing are your thoughts concerning me, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
Psalm 139:17-18

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
I Samuel 16:7

But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.”
I Samuel 13:14

Nobody thinks about you more than God does. He isn't concerned with whether you are trendy or if others think you are funny or popular. He is concerned about your heart. David was the runt of his family, the baby brother with the lowliest position, most mundane job, the least experience and yet God chose him to be king over His chosen people because David was a man after God's own heart.

God's desire is for you to seek and find your worth in Him. Let's rewrite the third formula for worth.

Worth = What God Thinks of Me

You are not an accident. God created you just the way you are for His purposes. You have significant and tremendous worth.

The next time you are looking in the mirror, remember that what you see is what Jesus loves.

Remember, one gal's trash is God's treasure.

Our study is based on His Girl by Vicki Courtney.

Anti-conformity

Anti-conformity. It means to not assimilate. We want to fit into the crowd and yet we want to be unique and special. But, what does God ask of us? He wants us to be different. First Peter 1:17 tells us to "live as strangers here" and Philippians 3:20 reminds us that our "citizenship is in heaven." If you feel as if you do not belong here on planet earth, then you are probably doing a good job.

Read these words:
RED GREEN PINK PURPLE WHITE ORANGE BLUE YELLOW RED GREEN PINK PURPLE WHITE ORANGE BLUE YELLOW RED GREEN PINK PURPLE WHITE ORANGE BLUE YELLOW RED

As you read the words above, what comes to your mind first, the color that the words actually say or the color that the words are printed in? This is a tough one for your brain, because your brain can "read" these words two different ways. You have to slow down your thinking in order to read the letters.

This happens in the spiritual realm as well. We live in this world, but we are citizens of heaven. We are constantly bombarded with the standards of earth, but we know that we should live under the standards of God.

So, how do we do it? Here's the verse to meditate on this week.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

The world is constantly pushing you to conform, but God has a better plan for you. The only way to be transformed is by the renewing of your mind. And the only way to renew your mind is to spend time reading the Bible.
Period.
That's what it takes.


Do you have a kitchen table? Is it the dumping ground at your house? You know, you walk in the door from school or wherever and you take all the stuff in your hands and you just dump in on the table. So does everyone else. Backpacks. Books. Water bottles. Hats. Mail. Whatever. It all gets deposited on the table.

Supper time rolls around and mom starts hollering from the kitchen, "Clear off the table." Somebody, probably you, has to get rid of all the stuff. You can't sit down for a good, nutritious meal without first clearing off all the junk.

The same thing is true in your brain. You get junk dumped on you all day long. You need to take time to clear it off and then you need to sit down and get some good, nutritious food. Fill your brain up with the Word of God from the Bible. You must be radically transformed before we can stand out for God in the world.

You know I love music, so here is a song by Krystal Meyers called Anti-conformity. It could not be embedded so we share the link with you below. Be sure to check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WErI0J61kzw

This is what we talked about at our teen girls' Bible study last night. We are using the study His Girl by Vicki Courtney and I stole some of her thoughts for this blog. It is a good study and if you happen to be a teen girl who has completed seventh through twelfth grade and live in the Stafford area, come to my house at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday. If you live somewhere else, you can buy the study book at a Christian bookstore or online or you can just keep reading the blog. The book is better. The Bible is best.

Stress

Stress. When I mentioned to a group of teen girls that our summer Bible study would begin with the topic of stress, I received feedback that this was a much needed topic. I know I'm not revealing some great mystery when I tell you that teen girls live with a lot of pressures.

When I asked the girls to tell me what stresses them out, some of the responses included: tests, knowing the right thing to wear, homework, sports, boys, the drama of high school, family responsibilities, getting and keeping in shape, getting ready for college, and keeping Christian friends. Okay, someone mentioned that her coach is a crazy driver and it totally stresses her out to drive anywhere with the team, but we are not mentioning names here. These are big issues for girls and as the conversation continued more things were added to the list.

Our study is called His Girl by Vicki Courtney. The goal with the study is to get us (and I'm including myself) to see the world from God's point of view. We want to live as a daughter of the King. So, how does God want us to react when we feel stressed?

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:14-16

I have to be honest with you. Jesus was a guy. He lived a long time ago. He probably wore the same thing every day. Are you sure he can empathize with a fifteen-year-old girl's decision on what to wear on a dress-up game day? He could turn stones into food if he was hungry, but did he ever have to worry about being teased over his weight? Jesus was omniscient; did he ever stress out before a test?

A little deeper look into the Bible reveals to us that Jesus did indeed face many pressures. Thankfully, Jesus' actions also show us how we can react and face those stresses.

Here is where you need to open your Bible and read Matthew 14. Yes, the whole chapter. While you are reading, remember this all happened it just one day.

Do you remember who John the Baptist was? John was Jesus' cousin and he was a prophet. If anyone on earth had a chance of really "getting" Jesus, it was John. Jesus loved and treasured John. So, it is no surprise that when Jesus is told that John had been beheaded, "he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place." See verse 13.

Jesus was grieving. Have you ever lost someone you love deeply? You understand how Jesus felt. He wanted to get away by himself and mourn his cousin. Unfortunately, Jesus did not have time to grieve. A large crowd had followed Jesus and he felt compassion for them.

If Jesus had a to-do list for that day it would have looked like this.

• Get terribly sad news
• Take a boat ride
• See large crowd and feel compassion
• Heal all the sick
• Feed five thousand men and their families
• Dismiss the crowd
• Pray alone on a mountainside
• Walk across the lake
• Give Peter a water-walking lesson
• Heal more sick people
• Answer challenges from religious people
• Teach large crowd
• Explain teaching to disciples

Did you notice that Jesus' day stretched into day two? I read chapter 14 and 15 several times and I never saw where Jesus rested, or slept, or ate chocolate. (That's what I do when I get stressed out.) So what did Jesus do?

He went alone and prayed. That was Jesus' response to the pressures of the world. And it should be our response as well.

Does it work? Scroll back up to Hebrews 4:16. God tells us that when we pray, we will receive mercy, grace and help. Notice, it doesn't say maybe we will receive or sometimes we will receive. It says we will receive.

Pray. Approach God's throne of grace with confidence. It works.