The value of a person is truly impossible to calculate. Some people will place value on others based on their job, their salary, their contribution to an organization or society. Some people place these same assessments on themselves. I have known parents who feel they have lost their worth after their children were raised and moved out of the family home. This is one reason some couples get divorced after what seems like a long happy marriage. The parents struggle to adapt to “life after children,” and it causes stress. They can’t seem to find their worth in being a husband or a wife.
Worth placed on people because of their career choice can often place higher expectations on people than should be placed on them. Regardless of education, they are still human and prone to human mistakes. The worth of people in certain careers is not always reflected in salary. Most teachers I know are very good role models and have a genuine concern for the students’ success in life. These teachers have an amazing impact on many young lives. These same teachers are grossly underpaid based on their role in society.
Then you can look at a business executive or a CEO making six or seven figures annually. They are worth a lot financially and worth their wages to the company they work for, yet they may not be impacting as many lives as the teacher. They still have worth, however, in the eyes of people. That worth is much different.
With birth of social media, we see people placing their worth based on the number “friends” or followers they have and the amount of “likes” they get on their posts. We also have witnessed how some people tear others down and cause them to feel that they have no worth. This is a prime example of why we should never value ourselves based on what others think we are worth.
That brings us back to the point that the value of a human life is impossible to calculate. People contribute to society in different ways. Who is to determine what the most important and the least important contribution is? If we live according to the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12–12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets) are we not making a valuable contribution to society?
Our worth was given to us by God. First, we are created in His image (Genesis 1:27) and after creating man, God called His creation “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Secondly. God gives us unconditional love. He loves us regardless. His great love for us prompts Him to be merciful and gracious toward us. Along with that, God proclaimed our worth by sending Jesus to die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. The same Jesus who walked this earth as a man, was tempted in all ways like we are, and yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). God says that humans are worth the life of His one and only perfect Son!
So, the next time you doubt your worth, remember God knows your worth and that’s really the only opinion that matters.
Read I Peter 1:18-21