Your Self-Worth Has Nothing To Do With You

There is this popular notion that a person’s value and self-worth is intertwined or, even worse, completely dependent on their accomplishments, family, friends and work. This notion carries a heavy burden to Christians and non-Christians alike. It seems to be inescapable.

Your value and self-worth and what you have or have not accomplished are two separate things. What you accomplish does not add to your value because your value was predetermined before you were created. Your value is so high and so rooted in God that you cannot add to it. That space, so to speak, is already filled to the brim and overflowing.

The Apostle Paul explains it best in 2 Timothy 1:9 when he writes, “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, …”

Therefore, your self-worth is not

• in how many children you have
• if you have a husband/boyfriend
• if you have family/many friends
• in what you have accumulated
• in your job
• determined by what you do or don’t do
• determined by how much money you have/make

Your self-worth will always be

• rooted in God’s love for you.
  • “…so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3: 17-19
• A love that is unchanging, unwavering, and steadfast, even when you feel unlovable.
  • The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new   every morning; great is your faithfulness.   Lamentations 3:22-23

• A love that created you.
  • So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27
• A love that died for you and says you are worth spending eternity with.
  • For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
• A love that fights for you.
  • If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? 8:31-34
• A love that gives you grace and mercy.
  • But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7

Everyday, I have to continually remind myself of these truths because the world wants me to believe that I am on my own and my self-worth is completely dependent on outside influences. Their idea of my self-worth is exhausting and debilitating. God’s true version of our self-worth is refreshing and healing. It allows us to freely become the person God meant us to be, without all the world’s distractions wearing us down. Don’t let the world push you down. When life gets too hectic with the to do list that never ends, with countless people taking from you but not giving in return, when you feel depleted because “you just aren’t good enough,” immediately stop what you are doing, ignore the tornado circling around you, take a deep breath, clear your mind and say to yourself, “God determines my worth, God already says I am worthy. I cannot change this, and the world definitely cannot change this.”

Lauren Ortiz

Lauren Ortiz is an introverted, self-employed, work-at-home mom. She has a B.S. in Early Childhood Education from Southeast Missouri State University and a Masters in Biblical Studies from Temple Baptist Seminary. When she is not writing, reading children’s lit or spending time with her family, she is helping guests create long lasting memories with her family photo booth business. Her ambition is to spread encouragement when life seems bleak.

http://laurenaortiz.com