Worth v. Value
This is a topic that has been rolling around in my head now for a few weeks. It has bothered me that as Christians we tend to talk about being “unworthy” as a means to acknowledging our position in relationship to God. I have two questions: is this a helpful description that brings us closer to who God is and who we are or does it increase the difficulty of living out of the identity He has given us? In digging into the meaning of worth and value, I see a few things that can help get us the answers.
Worth typically has a connection to a monetary and humanly assigned measurement or cost of a thing. When we sell or buy items we make an exchange based on something derived based on consensus of a group of people using marketplace guidelines. Additionally, worth largely has to do with the function, capacity or usefulness of a thing in day to day living. In other words, what am I tangibly getting from this?
Value on the other hand is something unique from person to person. While you may greatly value an antique clock handed down from your grandparents, it is unlikely that your neighbor would ascribe the same level of value. Value is something that is about a connection or relationship. As humans there are a wide variety of things that we maintain as having value. I would dare say that often that value has nothing to do with the cost of what another person would pay for it. Therefore, value has little to do with what it tangibly gives back to us but rather what it intangibly provides.
Others may attempt to place a label of worthy or unworthy on you but God does not. Worthy is an earned measure - a category not meant for humanity! “The foundation of what God believes about you stands immovable and beyond dispute, regardless of human opinion or contradiction!...Even in mega-rich households there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay; a vessel’s usefulness defines its true value. Even though their functions differ, each vessel is equally important. Realize your individual value and stop discrediting yourself with worth! You are indispensable for your Master’s use; he knows exactly what he has in you; be ready for any good work! (2 Tim. 2:19-21, Mirror)”
We see worth based on the outside. We see value based on what is on the inside. Worth is transactional. Value is relational. Worth is determined by humans, value is determined by God.
Your value cannot be denied or defined by anyone else. The real question is do you believe what God says about you?
- Katie Rivera
