She wasn’t then, nor is she now a pretty woman. You most likely wouldn’t recognize her if you saw her, and you might easily pass by without thinking her worth staring at. Picasso painted “Woman With Folded Arms” in 1902, depicting a plain-dressed woman sitting with her arms crossed sparingly depressingly into space – evidently lost in thought [perhaps the thoughts of many regrets.] She sold in 2000 for a cool $55 million dollars at Christie’s Auction house! Amazing! The embarrassing truth is that I wouldn’t have paid $5 for the painting at a yard sale!
A painting’s value is determined by what it sells for! The painting that I stupidly would not have paid $5 for at a yard sale is worth more money than most can even dream about. Everyone ultimately struggles with this idea of value. Most issues can be traced to the level of confidence individuals have concerning worth.
What determines our worth? Is it our looks? Our intelligence? Our accomplishments? The family we are born into? Is it how many know our name? Or perhaps it is how many “views” and “likes” we get on our social media posts? In the financial world, we determine worth by counting assets. Yet when you look at many of those who’s net worth is amazing you still find troubled individuals who can’t seem to find true peace. So our true worth must be derived from something more.
I submit to you, that just as a painting’s value is determined by what someone is willing to pay to acquire it, your worth is ultimately determined by the price Someone was willing to pay! This is the good news of the Gospel: “You must know (recognize) that you were redeemed….with the precious blood of Christ…” [I Pt. 1:18-19 Amp]
I hope you will stay with me in this series of blogs as we seek to grasp what it means to be thought of as “TO DIE FOR!”
If we are honest, I believe we each have to admit that we struggle with the issue of worth! Do we really matter? Most live constantly seeking to “measure up.” We are told that buying this car, living in this kind and size of a house, wearing this “brand”, following this “checklist” (or not following it), determines that we are somebody worthy of existing!
Many rebel against the idea of “measuring up” according to the things I have mentioned above only to begin to feel that they possess worth because they are willing to go against the grain of normalcy within the culture. Sadly, they end up simply creating a counter culture that is as anemic as the accepted culture. The cycle only continues to feed the insecurities that encourage us to live small bound lives.
Yet there is HOPE! Jesus gave His life for us! He forever declared that HE considers us worthy! To view the messages online click here The LIFT media or better yet, download The Lift Church ministry app via ITUNES OR GOOGLE PLAY!
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Have you struggled with your worth? If so how has it affected you? How have you dealt with it? I look forward to hearing from you!
Keith Nix is the founding lead pastor of a thriving congregation, The Lift Church in Sevierville, Tennessee. [Visit www.TheLiftChurch.tv] He has traveled internationally since 1993 carrying a unique prophetic message of awakening to this generation. He and his wife, Margie, have one daughter, Isabella.
