Our Value

In His Name Devotionals
OUR VALUE

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1:18-21)

How much did I accomplish today? Did I get to everything on my list? Do I have my boss’s approval? Do I have the approval of my mate? Did I increase my net worth today? Did I make a lot of money today? Did I gain more power today? Did I get a lot of church work done today? How many mistakes did I make today? Did I stumble into sin today?

All of us assess our own value in different ways. Some of us have extreme difficulty finding anything good about ourselves. Some of us have, after reflecting on ourselves, have over inflated view of our self worth.

Consider what Peter says in the above verses. Encouraging his brothers and sisters to live a righteous life, he says that the basis for this type of life is the knowledge that they were redeemed by the “precious blood of Christ,” contrasting the price paid for our souls with perishable things such as silver and gold. Peter is making a tremendous statement about our worth and value in the eyes of God. God did not send His son to die for creatures worth nothing. God provided an infinite precious sacrifice for His infinitely valuable creation.

We are valuable not because we achieve, strive or live good lives. Our value has been determined by the price God paid to redeem us to Himself. We all understand the dynamics of an estate auction. While the starting bid may be determined by the auctioneer, the value of an item will be determined by what people are willing to bid. God placed the final bid on our souls when He offered His Son on the cross. No one can bid any higher. The real value of our lives has been set. The only way we can cheapen our worth is to ignore the final bid of God.

Often we struggle to live as God’s holy people. One of our problems is that we view ourselves as less than God created us. We need to examine God’s Word and discover the extremely high value God places on our lives. A glimpse of the cross with the Agent of creation dying for us should elevate how we assess and value ourselves. God is interested in our self-esteem. Let us always view ourselves through God’s eyes.

Listen to Peter once again, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10).