Infinite Value

Have you stopped recently to think about how amazing you are? Have you looked in the mirror and seen the face God gave you? Do you ever take time to realize your infinite value and worth? Do you realize when you put yourself down you are criticizing a being created by God? Do you understand you can change the world? You have a combination of intelligence, strength, abilities and talents which nobody else on Earth has. Do you take time to reflect on that? Do you think about your potential? Do you dream and try to figure out what you can do to reach the stars?

Or are you stuck in your role? Do you look in the mirror and see the same old aging face you see everyday? Do you get ready to go to the same old boring job with the same old boring people everyday?  Do you think often about how stuck you are? How you can never seem to get ahead? How depressing life can be? How you really dislike some people? How long your drive is? How bad your health is?  Do you focus on the mistakes you have made and feel guilty for those? Or maybe you dwell on how much you have been hurt in the past - and who did what when?

When you stop and think about your life - and you should do that - do your thoughts settle on the negative? Maybe your life has been really bad and painful, so it is understandable how negative thoughts and hurtful feelings can dominate your reflections. It is important to face the bad things. We should admit they hurt and how much they hurt. But then we need to find a source of comfort and peace so they don’t make us bitter, nasty people nobody wants to be around. And to stop the constant replaying in our heads. If you feel guilty about something you have done - figure out how to fix it the best you can, then let it go. Hate your job? Hate your life? Why? Go back in your mind to where those feelings began and figure it out. A lot of times we get stuck because we have so much debt we can never see a way out. I think the “American dream” often causes us to want what we don’t have and so our goals and dreams begin to center on the “next” house in the better neighborhood or the “next” car with more luxuries and conveniences or the “next” vacation...and on and on and on. Before we know it we are over our heads in debt and still find we have precious little feelings of self-worth.

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Instead of viewing ourselves and others as human beings who can change the world - we view ourselves and others in light of how much money we make or what possessions we own. Deep down, I think most people realize we should look at ourselves stripped of everything that is not physically a part of us. But that is a scary prospect, because we might not like what we see without the fluff around us. I think even the Church in America has fallen prey to the materialistic pull of this culture. Bigger buildings, world-class media, talented bands and powerful speakers draw the Middle and upper class American dreamer. 

But I think they often unintentionally and sometimes intentionally shut out and reject the poorer segments of society. And those on the fringes of middle class who go to big, modern, growing churches discover they feel like they don’t quite fit in there in much the same way they don’t quite fit into society. I think we need to reach out to the upper and middle class people, but we as a society have made it feel trendy to say we go to certain churches - and usually those are not the churches you will find many people on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum or even those who are unsure where they stand with God. When even the Church leaves you feeling like you don’t quite measure up it’s no wonder so many people live in the negative. And that is a false reality.

You are a created being - filled to the brim with potential, whether you are 10 or 30 or 50 or 80 years old the potential is there! You can change the world by the things you do. The choices you make impact your life and the lives of other people. It is easy to press “like” on Facebook or to fill your seat in a pew on Sunday. Those things don’t make you more valuable. It is difficult to make a conscious decision to focus your gifts and talents on changing the world for those around you. It is difficult to follow through with it. You might have to sell something important. You might have to identify the things which are making you feel worthless and inferior. Maybe those are things you have or things you don’t have - identify them and acknowledge their true level of importance to your wellbeing. And maybe, gulp, get rid of them.

See your beauty and worth. Tell yourself again and again how valuable YOU are - with absolutely nothing else in your life. Just YOU. Created. Potential-filled. Beautiful. Unique. YOU! I am so glad you are on this planet. Don’t show me your toys, show me who YOU are! Who you are is where your true value lies.