Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Value: We're Not Napkins

“But you are a chosen race, A royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” 1 Peter 2:9 NASB 

Recently, I was out with a group of friends when someone announced "Hey! There’s …!" Immediately, I began feeling rather anxious and curiously checked my pulse. Just as I had suspected, my heart rate had jumped sky high. What was wrong? I was letting someone else determine my value.  

Sure, I’d like to think I dance to the beat my own drum, but truth be told, many attempts to be different may in fact be stimulated by the need to feel less threatened. In other words, if I don't fit the mold, I can’t be compared to the mold. Either way, no matter how we deal with anxiety, we must understand that anxiety is often triggered by fear and in this case, the fear of how I was viewed by others. You see, “so and so” had hurt me deeply.  

The next day, I shared the experience with my husband and he looked me, eye ball to eye ball, and said, "When are you going to stop letting people determine your value?" My heart sank as I felt my daughter's eyes burning into my soul. I was exposed! Now she could see that I'm not this strong woman I'd like her to think I am, but rather this frail, scared little girl, full of extraordinary dreams and grand aspirations, yet haunted by "what if" and failed attempts. With tears filling my eyes and one single tear escaping down my face, I looked at her and said, "Mommy is such a hypocrite, huh? I tell you not to let what people think bother you, to just let what people say roll off, that as long as you know the truth, that's all that matters. Yeah, it sounds great, huh, but your daddy is right. I've let stuff like this hinder me all my life and it’s simply got to stop!"

I glanced down at the table and caught inspiration from a simple, little napkin and shared, "You see this napkin? Several stores sell these napkins, but for different prices. Walmart has their price and Dollar General has theirs. They each decide how much these napkins are worth and then sell them for that price. We're not napkins! People can't slap a price tag across our face and label our worth and we should never let them!  God created us and though corrupted by sin, when He could have discarded us as trash, sent His only Son, Jesus, whom He dearly loved. He knew Jesus was without sin and was our only hope for redemption, so He sent Him to die in our place, raised Him back to life, giving us new life in His death and resurrection. God has declared our value and He says we're royalty! We're more valuable than we can fathom and no one can change that." 
 

Today, perhaps you’ve been hurt by things people have said or done. We put on a mask and claim, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” When in fact, you’re completely shattered inside and unable to brush off what’s been said. Let me encourage you with these words. 1 Peter 2:9-10 says, “… you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” 


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