Considered Lovable? Part I

 

(A photo of a card I recieved)

I think it takes courage to let someone love us; to let them see behind the walls we’ve erected to protect ourselves; to become intimate. Incidentally, by intimate, I don’t mean sexually engaged.

I think we’re sometimes too busy trying to prove our self-worth to believe we actually have any.

I think that without self-worth, we think of ourselves as unlovable.

I think this, because this is how I’ve thought of myself for many years.

I think – I’m not alone.

(elephantjournal.com)

God’s been teaching me about my own self-worth. A few years back He gave me the phrase intrinsic value. I looked it up, pondered it, wrote about, and shared it. But, did I believe it? Intrinsic value is the value someone is created with; worth we were already possessing when we showed up in this world. We don’t decide our value; our Creator gets to make that call.

The world around us dictates what we mean to society, or in comparison to what is perceived as valuable. But, we all value things differently. I place no value at all on a five pound bag of cocaine, yet those who deal it consider it of great value; many will give their lives in pursuit of obtaining it to sell or use.

Though beauty is in the eye of the beholder, our value is imposed by our Creator.

When we begin to dictate the value of human life, we, as a people, begin to embrace the idea that we can assume the role of God in our world. We make the rules. We find it acceptable to kill our unborn and easier to defend physician assisted suicide, calling it mercy killing. For that matter, if someone doesn’t value their life, why should suicide of any kind bother us? How does it impact our lives if they throw theirs away? Really, why care about anyone, especially if we perceive them to be valueless?

Was it Hitler who proposed seeking out those with abnormalities or handicaps and “putting them out of their own misery”?

When we take on the authority of assigning value, we begin to self-destruct.

I don’t believe we can make ourselves any more or less valuable to God. He created us with purpose, on purpose. That intrinsic value we showed up with only increases or decreases in the eyes of those who judge us, and if we accept their appraisals instead of the Word of God, our self-worth can completely disappear. Without worth, what is there to love? Without love, we die.

(sodahead.com)

I think we need to get beyond the idea that we’re not pretty enough, or helpful enough, or friendly enough, or thin enough, or productive enough or in-demand enough…..

As I observed the residents in my father-in-laws nursing home, I saw one person after another that many no longer value, some that never even received visitors. They contribute nothing to society; many of them drain the financial resources of agencies like Medicare and Medicaid. Many can’t take care of themselves, or even speak; they don’t appear to contribute anything to anyone. So why do they have value? Why are they here?

Why do I have value? Why am I here?

Is that not the question at the core of our being?

For those who have discovered their purpose, celebration is in order. For without purpose, it’s hard to accept that we have value or that we’re worth the effort to love. Without love, we waste away, whether we’re being productive members of society – or not.

(lightwords.com.au)

Love heals.

We all need healing.

No wonder the enemy of our souls is determined to convince us we’re unworthy of love. That leads to unworthiness of a God Who IS Love. And God SO loves us, that He sacrificed His Son for us…. (John 3:16)

I think I’m onto something. As it grows in me, I’ll share it with you. I’d love to hear your thoughts and input on this. Comment or message me, please!

A Constant

(I took this photo at the Denver Botanical Gardens 2012.)

A few years ago the word ‘intrinsic’ kept floating through my mind, to the point that I finally looked it up. I felt like God was talking to me about my intrinsic value. I was incredibly blessed to discover its meaning.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the value of human life, or rather, how little human life is valued these days. With abortion an accepted part of life-as-we know-it, we’ve all but erased the value of human life from our nation, and diminished it greatly in our everyday lives. The atrocities of yesteryear don’t even raise our eye brows now. We read of child abuse of epic proportions on a daily basis. Violent crimes become more and more violent, as man turns against man (or woman, or child).

Clearly, we as a people, not necessarily as individuals, do not place much value on human life. Though we are numbed by the news and oftentimes block out reality, God never changes. He’s the one constant. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” – Hebrews 13:8 (KJV) His values don’t change, His nature doesn’t change. Our intrinsic value is still the same, because we are made in our Maker’s image.

Over the years our own self-image changes. Whether we were raised to feel loved and believe in ourselves or we cowered in fear, wishing to be invisible and feeling unloved and unwanted, God’s love for us has never changed, the value He places on our life is constant because it’s intrinsic and His thoughts toward us are always good. “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” – Psalm 139:17-18 (NLT)

Reflect on how valued you are; the worth placed on your life.

What does intrinsic mean? Read that post here.

Daring to Discover Our Worth

INTRINSIC. Kind of a neat sounding word. One day it came to mind, although it’s not a word I recognized. If I’d heard it before, I certainly didn’t know what it meant. It hammered away at my mind throughout the day so much that I had to look it up.

Per dictionary.com: Intrinsic - Of or relating to the essential nature of a thing; belonging to a thing by its very nature.

The child born to a starving Ethiopian woman that’s delivered in the streets and left to die has the very same intrinsic value as the child of royalty.

The bitter old criminal that dies alone in a prison cell has the very same intrinsic value as the missionary that’s martyred on the mission field.

Though I may not have starving Ethiopians or dying criminals or even princes or missionaries reading my blog posts – I imagine you fall somewhere in between, and your intrinsic value is exactly the same as everyone else’s because we were all created by the only God that creates!

We are created equal, with the same intrinsic value – yes. But there’s nothing equal about what happens to us after we’re created. Some of us are killed in our mother’s wombs. Some of us die of childhood diseases. Some of us are victimized by family or strangers. Some of us live normal looking lives and perhaps never reveal our secrets. Some of us learn young to trust in God – but that doesn’t mean bad things won’t happen to us. Many of us grow up to be criminals, and some to be successful members of society – some even going on to accomplish noticeable, great things.

But whether we die young, accomplish great things or commit evil atrocities, our value to God remains the same.

All the things that happen between our conception and death compete to define us – to determine our worth.

More coming….