How Much Are You Worth? by Brandon Herring

So I heard a story the other day at church that I want to share with the rest of you. Some of you may have heard it before and some of you may have not. I've changed it a little to fit my liking, but the story has been told a number of different ways.

 A teacher took out a crisp $20 bill and held it up before her class and asked the class to raise their hand if they wanted this $20 bill. The whole class raised their hands. She then crumbled the bill up and asked again for the class to raise their hand if they wanted the $20 bill and still the whole class raised their hands. Next she put the crumbled $20 bill on the floor and stepped all over it with her shoes and asked once more who would like this $20 bill. Still the whole class raised their hands. Then she picked it back up and tore the crumbled dirty $20 bill in half and said who still wants this $20 bill, everyone still raised their hands. The teacher then called on one of the students and asked, "Why do you still want this crumbled, dirtied, torn bill?" and the student replied, "Because it's still $20!"

This story has probably been told a million times and for who knows how long, however the lesson will always be a great one. The story teaches us that no matter what we go through in life, our value will never change. Twenty dollars will still be twenty dollars and you, will still be you! Too often we allow the harshness of this world to eat away at our sense of self-worth. While reflecting on our past we only see the mistakes we've made, the failures we've endured, the neglect we've experienced, the loneliness we go through, the goals we never attempted to accomplish, our personality flaws, our physical flaws, the criticism we've received from others, the physical and mental abuse we've encountered, and so on. They all pile up and submerge us in a place of emptiness and inferiority. How should we deal with our pasts? How do we emerge from this pit of self-conscious emotions?

The Bible has a number of short scriptures that can help us answer these questions. First, always remember that Proverbs 22:2 states, "Rich and poor have this in common, the Lord is the maker of them all." Next remind yourself of Genesis 1:27 which declares, "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."  Now let us also take into account Matthew 10:29-31 which reads, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

When we read these three scriptures together in their simplest forms we can gather this: Each and every one of us rich, poor, black, white, gay, straight, etc. were all created equally by God; God created us to resemble him meaning that rich, poor, black, white, gay, straight, etc. we still resemble the Lord; and even a life form as abundant and unvalued as a sparrow is still significant in the eyes of the Lord, so imagine how unique and valuable you must be if every hair on your head (every aspect of you) is known to God.

God created us…….to be just like him……our value is FACT our worth is SECURED.