You wouldn't be expecting a 21 year old male to be having trouble with his self-worth, would do? It just so happens this guy right here is in fact dealing with such issues.
What the World Says
In the eyes of the world, where corporations and politicians and economies rule supreme, I'm not very valuable. Just another taxpayer funding whatever asinine ideas the American government wants to carry out. Just another name on a resume among 20 others applying for the same job. In this world, you're only as valuable as what you can contribute. That high school diploma is pretty unimpressive, since everyone else who payed the slightest amount of attention in high school also got one. Even four year college degrees are becoming so commonplace that they don't stand out.
There are people out there who play video games for a living, and they make enough money doing so to live off it! Why? They make stuff that is valuable to people. That, and they get advertised like there is no tomorrow. I would love to be able to do something like that! But alas I have neither the hardware nor the personality for it. I'm not too valuable in that regard.
Or consider this. I have an associate's degree in computer science. In a year I will have a bachelor's degree. My IQ puts me somewhere in the top 2-5% of the American population. My hobbies include writing, programming, and playing Minecraft. You would think that this diversity gives me a little bit of value, right? Then why is it that the best I could do for a part time summer job, despite having a college degree in computer science, is cleaning tables at a fast food place? In the eyes of the world, that is all I am worth. And let's not even get me started about what I'm worth in the church. I have experience teaching Bible studies. I've put countless hours since 2011 in studying apologetics. I have assisted with children's church. Yet, in the church hierarchy, what is my worth? Pew warmer. Since I have not gone through the new member classes, nor do I have a degree from a seminary, the chances of me having any value is slim. That, and I'm not even 22. I doubt the youth are seen as having much potential to teach.
Is that not just terribly depressing? This is what has been bothering me. I have the potential for many things. But my worth, according to the culture and institutions set up by man, is a pew-warming, table-cleaning, run of the mill college student. Hardly worth more than a speck of dust.
What God Says
As a Christian I have a unique privilege. Explicitly or implicitly, the Bible makes it clear that we humans are of extreme value.
Matthew 6:25-26: "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"
John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
God is the ultimate source of truth. If we have any worth, and value, it is because God has said so. These two passages make it very clear we are of immense, perhaps infinite, worth. We are worthy and valuable enough that God would send Jesus, his Son and fellow member of the Trinity, to die on a cross - the epitome of shame - for us. How can one not feel intrinsically valuable and of great worth after hearing this?
So, Which Side Wins?
A person could be very valuable to the world in this lifetime. The CEO of a Fortune 500 company is pretty valuable, and has the right to feel like he has great self-worth. After all, he probably did a lot to achieve that rank. Perhaps he built the company himself!
But there is a day coming when world value will have no meaning. Why? Because this current world and all the cultures and institutions in it will disappear. 2 Peter 3 says that the very elements of the universe will burn. Everything we did in the few thousand years of human civilization will come to naught. Where then will we go to find value?
So we see that if worldly value is temporary, the only other source of self-worth we can have is God. God is eternal. There will never be a time where God isn't existent. And if we are in right standing with God, we can see just how worthwhile and valuable we are. Because God gives us that value, that worth.
What this means personally, is this: I can walk around with confidence that even though I may be meager in terms of what I can offer the worldly culture, I still have considerable worth. It comes from being saved by God, bought at the price of Jesus's death and resurrection. I need not feel like a failure to mankind just because I don't get fame or publicity. Just because I might be washing tables while my computer science degree gets dust in a closet somewhere. I have something greater, something that doesn't get dusty: salvation.
Of course, this will take time for me to internalize. I don't consider myself quick to change emotionally. But at least, if anyone asks, I can honestly and boldly say that I am a very valuable and worthy person. Not spoken in arrogance, obviously. But spoken in truth, truth found in the words of God.
What the World Says
In the eyes of the world, where corporations and politicians and economies rule supreme, I'm not very valuable. Just another taxpayer funding whatever asinine ideas the American government wants to carry out. Just another name on a resume among 20 others applying for the same job. In this world, you're only as valuable as what you can contribute. That high school diploma is pretty unimpressive, since everyone else who payed the slightest amount of attention in high school also got one. Even four year college degrees are becoming so commonplace that they don't stand out.
There are people out there who play video games for a living, and they make enough money doing so to live off it! Why? They make stuff that is valuable to people. That, and they get advertised like there is no tomorrow. I would love to be able to do something like that! But alas I have neither the hardware nor the personality for it. I'm not too valuable in that regard.
Or consider this. I have an associate's degree in computer science. In a year I will have a bachelor's degree. My IQ puts me somewhere in the top 2-5% of the American population. My hobbies include writing, programming, and playing Minecraft. You would think that this diversity gives me a little bit of value, right? Then why is it that the best I could do for a part time summer job, despite having a college degree in computer science, is cleaning tables at a fast food place? In the eyes of the world, that is all I am worth. And let's not even get me started about what I'm worth in the church. I have experience teaching Bible studies. I've put countless hours since 2011 in studying apologetics. I have assisted with children's church. Yet, in the church hierarchy, what is my worth? Pew warmer. Since I have not gone through the new member classes, nor do I have a degree from a seminary, the chances of me having any value is slim. That, and I'm not even 22. I doubt the youth are seen as having much potential to teach.
Is that not just terribly depressing? This is what has been bothering me. I have the potential for many things. But my worth, according to the culture and institutions set up by man, is a pew-warming, table-cleaning, run of the mill college student. Hardly worth more than a speck of dust.
What God Says
As a Christian I have a unique privilege. Explicitly or implicitly, the Bible makes it clear that we humans are of extreme value.
Matthew 6:25-26: "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"
John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
God is the ultimate source of truth. If we have any worth, and value, it is because God has said so. These two passages make it very clear we are of immense, perhaps infinite, worth. We are worthy and valuable enough that God would send Jesus, his Son and fellow member of the Trinity, to die on a cross - the epitome of shame - for us. How can one not feel intrinsically valuable and of great worth after hearing this?
So, Which Side Wins?
A person could be very valuable to the world in this lifetime. The CEO of a Fortune 500 company is pretty valuable, and has the right to feel like he has great self-worth. After all, he probably did a lot to achieve that rank. Perhaps he built the company himself!
But there is a day coming when world value will have no meaning. Why? Because this current world and all the cultures and institutions in it will disappear. 2 Peter 3 says that the very elements of the universe will burn. Everything we did in the few thousand years of human civilization will come to naught. Where then will we go to find value?
So we see that if worldly value is temporary, the only other source of self-worth we can have is God. God is eternal. There will never be a time where God isn't existent. And if we are in right standing with God, we can see just how worthwhile and valuable we are. Because God gives us that value, that worth.
What this means personally, is this: I can walk around with confidence that even though I may be meager in terms of what I can offer the worldly culture, I still have considerable worth. It comes from being saved by God, bought at the price of Jesus's death and resurrection. I need not feel like a failure to mankind just because I don't get fame or publicity. Just because I might be washing tables while my computer science degree gets dust in a closet somewhere. I have something greater, something that doesn't get dusty: salvation.
Of course, this will take time for me to internalize. I don't consider myself quick to change emotionally. But at least, if anyone asks, I can honestly and boldly say that I am a very valuable and worthy person. Not spoken in arrogance, obviously. But spoken in truth, truth found in the words of God.