Real Value

My dear friends do we have value in the eyes of our God? Here is what Scripture tells us: Luke 12:6-7Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.” Yes my friends we are priceless in God’s eyes.There are times, do to our sinful nature, that we lose sight of just how valuable we are to God. We all know that there is something wrong with our human race. Sin is a constant of our human condition. Sin is around us everywhere. Some sins seem large like murder and adultery and other sins seem more subtle like cursing, gossip and coveting. In the end, we know things are not the way God intended….not in the world….not in others and clearly not in ourselves. Does God look at us as damaged goods? Have our sins caused us to lose our intrinsic value?

There is an old story that goes something like this: A speaker began his seminar by holding up a fifty dollar bill. He asked everyone at the conference, “Who would like this new fifty dollar bill?”Hands went up all over the room.He said, “I’m going to give this fifty dollar bill to one of you, but first I am going to spit on it” “Now who wants it?” All the hands still went up.Next he said: “I am going to crumple it up.” He wadded up the bill and asked, “Who still wants it?” Hands were quickly raised.Finally the speaker dropped the bill and ground it into the floor with his shoe. He picked up the crumpled, dirty bill which he had spat on and ask: “Now who wants it?” Everyone still lifted their hands.We can all learn a valuable lesson here. We can see that no matter what the speaker did to damage the money its value never changed. It continued to be worth fifty dollars. Yes it was worth fifty dollars even in its crumpled, dirty and spat upon condition.

Perhaps when you and I look closely into a mirror and peer deeply into our own eyes we see a person who, through our own sinfulness, looks dirty, crumpled and spat upon. But my friends, just like that fifty dollar bill did not lose its value you and I, even though sinful, have not lost our value in the eyes of God.Each of us is precious in God’s sight. Knowing you are a sinner how do you see yourself? Stop for just a minute and let this next point sink in……God still sees you as priceless.I can tell you this; there have been times in my life that I have lost sight of this reality. Because of my sins I have thought that God must really be upset with me and He must see me as someone of less value. Have you ever felt that way? We have all made mistakes. We have all done things or said things that we wish we could take back. There are, without a doubt, things in our past which we wish we could do over. No matter what our past sins may have been and no matter what mistakes may lie ahead in our future there is nothing we can do to cause God to quit loving us.

We must take HOPE in this fact.God made a perfect world, a world free of sin. Adam and Eve turned away from God and our human condition has been flawed and sinful ever since. You and I can’t escape this reality. Sadly we all in some way turn away from God. Sadly we are all caught in a cycle of repenting and then sinning again. On our own we could never become free, and that is where the love of God comes in. Broken as we are God loves us.From the beginning God made us in love:Psalm 139:13-14 You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works!”And even though we are sinners he never quits loving us:Ephesians 2:4-7 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ (by grace you have been saved), raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

There is nothing you and I can do to add value to our lives. God sees the value in us that has been there from the beginning. No matter what we might do to try to make atonement for our sins, we on our own can never do it. The great news of salvation is this: God sent His only son to pay the price for our sins precisely because he loves us, and He sees our real value.Clearly we all have our weaknesses. Each of us knows all too well what our sins are. We must never lose hope. Even in our broken condition we can find reasons to find joy. We don’t need to hide our brokenness, in fact just the opposite. Once we know that Jesus can save us from our sins, we need to tell others about this. Let’s be strong enough to tell others how Jesus saved us from our sins. Look what Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9: “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”Our REAL VALUE is summed up in this one powerful statement which we read in John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”Because we know how much God loves us and we know our real value let’s go tell others just how much God loves, forgives and wants to bless them too!Most Heavenly Father I thank you for seeing such real value in me that you sent your only Son to die for my sins. Help me to live my life as a loving response to the value you place in me, amen!

Brian Pusateri
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