#3 Self-Worth

Thus far in our journey through God’s Laws that govern our hearts, we decided to accept ourselves and choose to know ourselves better. 

Now, we’ll begin to see our worth. Worth is concerned with the meaning, value, or significance of something. We are of inestimable worth to God. The very life of Jesus is how much we are worth. 

We are not only valuable because of the price paid for us. We’re also treasured because there is only one of us. We are unique and one-of-a-kind. No assembly line. No scanning and copying. No cloning. Only one of you and one of me. An original masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10). 

Author Bruce Barton said, “If you have anything really valuable to contribute to the world, it will come through the expression of your own personality, the divine imprint that sets you apart and makes you different from every other living creature.”

Self-esteem is closely aligned with self-worth. It means essentially the same thing: to set a high value on, respect, and favor. 

How we view ourselves – esteem ourselves – is central to our self-worth.

Many things affect our sense of worth and esteem; I’ll discuss three here. 

1. Research shows that helping others has all kinds of emotional benefits. It decreases depression and negative thoughts. It increases our sense of purpose and fulfillment. Focusing on and helping others increases our self-esteem.
2. We talk to ourselves all the time. Often, the monologue is just under the surface, but it is there. I’ve given clients an assignment to notice their self-talk. They come back the following week appalled at what they say to themselves. We would never think of speaking that way to others. We talk out loud about 100-150 words a minute. But we self-talk at about 600 words a minute. Often, it is a constant negative tirade of criticism. Can you imagine someone walking around with you all day telling you how awful you are? No wonder we feel negative about ourselves. We can learn to speak well of ourselves. We can say God’s words about how much he values us. We can say what is true – that we are a worthy, valued, and loved person. 
3. Look up words like love, compassion, masterpiece, delight, apple of his eye, etc., and see how God sees you. 

Here is a beautiful text about how God feels toward you:

For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. Psalm 139:13-14