I recently asked my Facebook girlfriends to tell me what issues they felt were at the top of women’s lists today.  I got many different answers, but one issue in particular seemed to rise to the top: the issue of self-worth.  This is a subject that is very near and dear to my heart because I’ve struggled with issues of self-worth my whole life.

So many of us buy into the lie that we are only as valuable as what we do.  We have to be rich, famous, beautiful or extremely intelligent in order to really matter in life.  The truth is most of us will never be categorized as any of those things because most of us are pretty average by the world’s standards.  None of those categories fit me and if that’s the case, what does that mean for me?  It means I’ve got to learn to define myself in God’s terms, not in the world’s terms.

What does God say to us?  First of all, He tells us that we are the most important thing in the universe to Him.  How do we know that?  Because He literally sacrificed His one and only Son for us.  If that doesn’t tell us what we are worth to Him, then nothing will.  When your spouse, kids, friends, neighbors or co-workers don’t tell you what  you mean to them, go to the Scripture to remind yourself just what you mean to God.

1 John 3:16 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.”  Whenever you start feeling worthless, remind yourself of this most foundational truth.  This is how much we are loved.  This is how much we are worth to the God of the universe.  He made the ultimate sacrifice to prove His love because He didn’t want to live without us. Wow.  Stop and really think about that for a moment.  Let it sink in.  This kind of love and sacrifice should overwhelm us all!  Yes, you are loved more than you will ever know!  Don’t ever forget it!

I’m sitting at my desk right now thinking about the many decisions we, as human beings, have to make each day. Sometimes I want the power to choose and sometimes I don’t. There are certain decisions in life that are really tough and in those moments I just wish God would send me an email with explicit instructions about what to do. I want to live in His Will. I don’t want to make mistakes. Life would be so much easier if He would just tell me every move to make.

Just as my mind wanders down this path, I’m suddenly halted by another realization. The ability to choose is a GIFT from my Creator. There are times when I get stuck in the details of life and I want to know how specific issues are going to work out, but if I can look at the bigger picture and look at my BIG God, then all of the details fall into place. He gives me the gift of choice. I can choose to walk around in bondage being weighed down by worry, fear and regret or I can choose to walk in His freedom.

God didn’t want His people to be robots programmed to love and trust. No. He wants us, as His creation, to WANT to love Him and trust Him. That’s real love. He wants us to choose to walk in His freedom. He doesn’t want us to simply be programmed for it.

Choosing to turn your back on worry and despair and live in certainty and hope.  We are certain that God is able and we have hope because of His deep love for us.  We don’t need an email from Him because He writes to us on the tablets of our hearts through His Holy Spirit.  When we keep our eyes on the bigger picture and on our big God, He makes all of the details clear.

Choose freedom, my friends!  You won’t be disappointed!