find out what you are worth

You have value, whether you are male or female, rich or poor, famous or unknown.

The question is, who determines our value? Does society, government, education, or talent? It is an important question to answer for each of us and can significantly impact our lives.  First things first, let us define worth. It can be used as a noun, preposition, adjective, or verb. We will use the second noun use for this example. : the value of something measured by its qualities or by the esteem in which it is held.

Image of scales and questions to ask ourselves concerning our worth

 

The Value of Something

While we would not dare give a monetary value to human life, it is evident that some value life more than others. We can look at history and see how wicked and aggressive dictators had no respect for human life. Powerful leaders using evil ideology and intentions have resulted in world wars which left staggering death tolls. In modern times the lack of value to human life is evident with abortions here and around the world. 

The total amount of abortions in the U.S. from 1973 to 2018 is 61.8 million. Plan parenthood had an income in 2020 of 1.641 billion dollars. 618.1 million came from government reimbursements and grants. So let us not get it twisted, killing is big business.  And I want to start by using this model to show you where your value does not need to come from before pointing out where it should.

This is your value based on our US Supreme Court.

In 1859 the American Medical Association condemned abortion except as necessary to save mother or child.

So in 1859, you and I would have a great deal of value if we were in our mother’s womb. After all, the same government protects Eagle eggs. So your chances of making it into the world in 1859 were very high.

Let us continue and see if our value has increased or decreased according to our government. 

  • 1875 – Every state in the US had adopted laws banning abortion. ( looking good)
  • 1959 – American Law Institute proposed the “Model Penal Code” – Abortions to take place in licensed hospitals to preserve the mental or physical health of the mother in cases of rape or incest.
  • 1965– The Supreme Court legalized contraceptives and defines the “right to privacy.” (ah, now your value and right to live cannot be more important than mom`s private choice)
  • 1967 – Colorado becomes the first state in the Union to legalize abortion in rape, incest, or save the mother’s life. ( once you give sin a foot in the door, it will bust wide open eventually)
  • 1970 – 14 more states adopt laws allowing for some form of abortion.
  • 1973 – Roe vs. Wade – The US Supreme Court legalizes abortion on demand allowing states to outlaw the procedure in the third trimester except when doing so would jeopardize the mother’s life. (from no abortions to anything goes, that is how sin operates)
  • 1973 – Doke vs. Bolton – The US Supreme Court defines the “health of the mother” to include anything. In other words, abortion is in demand at any time and for any reason.
  • 1976– Missouri vs. Danforth- consent of parents in minors and husbands in married women was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

[Statictics are from All.org –link to the website] you can read the timeline from here up to the present day at all.org.

If we look to the government to determine the value of human life, we had better be prepared to go downhill fast. We may be valuable initially, but apparently, those changes do not infringe on the “special rights” of the mother who neither creates the child nor gets pregnant on her own.

There will be hell to pay for those who paved the way for this sinful and murderous behavior becoming nothing more than a slight inconvenience.  Needless to say, we do not want the federal government to assign value to us because while it started out promising, we ended up with zero value.

Our Value-Based on our Family

There can be little debate about the role our families play in how we value ourselves and others. And yet, this standard can also extend from one extreme to the other depending on circumstances. For example, if someone grows up getting the love and discipline they need, they may have a decent grasp of life’s value.

But what about the millions of people who have been given up for adoption or who lost their parents for one reason or another and never experienced healthy family life. Or those who had a mother or father who physically, emotionally, or even sexually abused them? Try explaining the value of life to a child who has been through years of abuse.  Ideally, the home should provide a good foundation of worth in a child, yet as we just discussed, this too is not a stable or perfect standard to measure a person’s value.

Our Value-Based on our Talents, Abilities, and Looks.

We cannot just dismiss these because these are what people judge others by more often than not. And while that may be the case, they are not good methods for determining worth. But, of course, if you are looking to hire someone or choose someone for a specific task, then one or all of these may play an important part in the decision.

That is not what we are talking about. If I come into work late every day, do a sloppy job, and complain about my pay, I will not be valuable to my employer. On the other hand, someone who is punctual works hard, and is grateful for the job is worth far more. The problem with using talents, abilities, or looks to determine value is that everyone is different. Some are very gifted in one area or the other, and some are not. For example, a young supermodel is only valuable to ad agencies so long as she is young. Once she is older, the offers fade away. Does that make her worth any less?

We each can do our best with what we have to work with. However, we cannot be anything we want to be. That is foolishness. We can try to be anything we want to be, but that does not mean we can.

Here are some examples of how most of us get our worth and assign worth to others.

standards for value we use

How our brains tend to give value to others quickly

additional standards for determining value

When we determine someone’s worth, the answers to these questions and ones like them are usually part of the equation.

We can almost immediately develop an instant evaluation in our minds of what we think a person is worth soon after meeting someone, producing judgments faster than Divorce Court or Judge Judy. Case dismissed, next. I know you may be thinking, no way I do that. Most of the time, we do not realize our brains do this because it becomes automatic, and all we have is the results of the split-second conclusion our minds produce.

Another factor is that we all have so many stereotypes and prejudices.

Even though we seldom admit it, we all have them to some degree. Once they take hold and form patterns of thought and behavior, pre-set views and responses become major players in our value system. It can lead to people looking down on those who may be different, from another race, or a different culture, and at least in their minds, assigning them less value.

Or the opposite could be true, where we have been belittled and mistreated to where we feel we have little or no value, especially compared to those around us. And unfortunately, many kids grow up in environments where they are mistreated or abused. To say that their sense of self-worth is destroyed and distorted is an understatement.

We all Assign Worth

assigning worth based on appearance

We all place value on ourselves and others, and we think everyone is worth something. But, how much value can change from day to day based on many things. For example, we often give little value or thought to the straggling homeless person who is not well-groomed or physically appealing in any way.

They have nothing to offer us. At least we conclude that they don’t. This is often based on our past experiences with those we may have met and what we hear on the news or through government and media. Without knowing a single thing about them, we quickly see with our eyes and associate in our minds what we have already experienced or believed in the past and make instant judgments. Most of the time, we would like to avoid eye contact or getting too close.

Our past has conditioned us that they are the same and live with the very lowest standards within our cities and communities.

Therefore, we may conclude that their value is less than our own and the value of others.

Quick to Judge

We believe they will ask us for money or some handout, and they should get a job and quit the drugs. Now that may sound harsh when you read that, yet many think this way. Some label anyone who fits the profile of homelessness into one large group of people with little value.

We forget or are unaware that many homeless have mental conditions and other factors contributing to them being where they are.

But that is another discussion, and I am not looking to over-analyze this particular example except to show that we all assign worth to others. If you do not believe you have, then you are in the minority. All danger aside, would you treat a homeless person who walked up to you the same way you would someone dressed in expensive clothes and that you found attractive?

Would you speak the same way to the one as to the other? Probably not.

 

examples of what we may think determines our value or worth

 

Based only on appearance, these two human beings and their worth have scored very low or very high based on superficial yet obvious things that our senses pick up. If someone is famous or wealthy, there is no hesitation. We consider them high-value people because of their accomplishments, talents, appearance, and what they have.

But does being famous or rich make someone more valuable than someone who is not?

Do you feel your value and worth are tied to your achievements, income, material things, or social status?

If they are, it is like building your house on sinking sand because any of these can instantly change.

The Standard

beauty as a standard, young and old comparison

Based on what we already looked at, the standards we assign are numerous and can differ from one person to another, leaving a giant pool of mixed values and beliefs. What is worse is that using the systems such as physical appearance and social status can change quickly and change no matter who you are. For example, you may be young and beautiful and feel valued by the attention you receive and perhaps the benefits you experience.

But what happens as you grow old and those outward qualities that brought you so much value disappear? Has your value now changed as well?

You and I can conclude that the common standards used in determining our worth and the worth of others are not the same for everyone, can change at any time, and in the end, they really lose their punch, so to speak. For example, if today’s performance determines my value, how I look, how successful I am, and I have a bad day? Then I suddenly become worth much less.

Reinforcement Of What Does not Work

It is also true that through ads, movies, and the media, these characteristics are reinforced every day as the correct standards of value. The red carpet, the worship of celebrities as gods, and the value placed on physical beauty and talent are more than sufficient examples. But do most people even understand that these ideas and standards of value are drilled into our minds? Of course, but I know better, and I know that those things are temporary and, in many cases, vanity of the worst kind.

influences on our worth

There must be a better standard, and if so, where do we start?

changing how we assess worth

I have been working through a workbook on setting goals, doing the exercises, and writing out the ideas as suggested. Some of the questions led me to think about my gifts and talents, which of course, I had compared to those I have met or seen throughout my life.

My value meter dropped like a heavy rock in a tub of mashed potatoes, straight to the bottom.

Why? Because when it came to talents, appearance, personality, money, and many other things, the value I saw in myself compared to others was minimal.

 

Now I did not have a pity party, but it made me think that if any or all of those things determine our true worth, it can only create hopelessness and depression for anyone who may lack these areas.

growth and self improvement

A Much Better and More Accurate Way

So the next morning, when I woke up, I was still working on my goals and trying to determine just what value I had or felt in this world. I thought about all the mistakes I made, the failures and disappointments, as well as the successes and achievements. But in the end, this kind of thinking always brings me back to comparing myself with others and is performance-based. I know God is fair, He is, and He doesn’t make mistakes. And, looking to Him for answers, I was reminded that He alone determines the value of life because HE IS THE SOURCE OF ALL LIFE.

 

What is more, is that your worth and my worth are far greater than what we have likely assessed it to be. Good news, right?

Well, it isn’t a dollar amount, so I hope you are not thinking along those lines, but it is an amount nonetheless. I may have less talent than anyone on the planet, be unattractive, broke, and sick, but my worth is still equal to any man alive. And yours is too.

Important to lay some Groundwork for determining worth

If I tell you God alone determines our real value, then you may roll your eyes and become indifferent to this idea. When Christ came to earth, He came to redeem man from sin. He came to seek and save what was lost back in the garden with Adam and Eve, who first rebelled against God.

Once they did this, God had warned them prior that they should surely die. However, we know that they lived for many years after this event, so what did God mean? First, they would die physically. Before God created man to live, and there was no reason for death to occur, sin changed that. The penalty of sin is death, and every man born from Adam until today has had to face the same consequences and has returned to the dust from which they were formed.

Here are the shocking statistics which back up my bold claim and validate the certainty of death:

info graph showing the death rate of all human life

I know that it may seem silly to create such a chart. However, it is important to remember that our lives are more than these temporary bodies we now are confined to. They grow old and sick and eventually wear out, and we leave them behind. And it is because of the curse of sin. The second part is the moment that they disobeyed God, they died spiritually because sin had entered into the heart and DNA of man.

Before disobeying God, they enjoyed perfect harmony with their creator and did not know sin.

However, man’s seed would now be born, separated from the perfect relationship that Adam and Eve had originally experienced in the Garden. Each birth from Adam until now (except for the Virgin Birth of Christ, who was not born from man’s seed) would produce more of the same seed. It is a heart that seeks to be independent of God, not mindful or understanding God or His ways.

Sin is nothing new

And while we are tempted to think sometimes that the wickedness in this world is worse than ever, it did not take long before the entire world was so sinful and so rebellious that God was sorry that He had made man. Finally, he had enough and decided to destroy the human race. That is likely hundreds of millions of people.

If not for Noah, that would have been the end of the story, and we would not even be here.

I share all of that because it is crucial to understanding our real value. That God did not just leave us orphaned as it were, but pursued a relationship with those He created even though we snubbed our noses at Him and rebelled.

“Greater love has no man than he lay down his life for his friends.”

Here is the best news I could ever share with anyone.

So valuable are we to our Creator that even though no one seeks God, we are born enemies of God, have gone our way, and all are guilty of sin, God gave His own Son to ransom us from a debt that we could not pay.

Man would be eternally cut off from God forever.

No hope and no way to make ourselves holy again.

What determines the ransom that someone will pay to redeem or get something back is its WORTH.

God determines your value or worth.

God Values You to The Level of His Own Son

Incredible to think about! How many Kings in history ever died for their enemies or a peasant farmer from another land who hated them? How many members of Royalty care so much about its people that they are willing to come out of the palaces and life of privilege and sacrifice for them?

God stepped out of heaven, satisfied his holy standard, and punished sin by taking it on Himself.

In doing so, He placed the highest amount of value on human life there could ever be.

 

“Greater love has no one than this than to lay down one`s life for his friends.” ( John 15:14)

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

Our value was displayed at the cross when Jesus took on the penalty for our sin in exchange for His righteousness which none of us can earn or deserve. 

How much are you worth?

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