You Are Worthy

Ask my seven-year-old son how fast he is, and he’ll answer without a second thought. “I’m faster than a cheetah.”

Ask him how strong he is, and he’ll say, “Oh, I’m strong enough to punch down a building!”

Ask him who the coolest person is, and he’ll point to himself and grin.

He is going to be the best at whatever you ask him about. It doesn’t matter if he’s last in the race, he’s still the fastest in his own mind. He’s just that self-confident.

Somewhere along the way, we lose that innate self-confidence. We realize we aren’t the fastest, prettiest, smartest, or the best. There is something to be said for having a realistic view of ourselves, but we tend to go to the other extreme.

In high school, I looked like I had it all together on the outside. I wasn’t one of the most popular girls (I went to a tiny high school, but there was still a pecking order), but I wasn’t an outcast. I was a straight-A student, salutatorian of my class, and a standout athlete. I was in all the activities and a high achiever.

That perfectionism that drove me to be so good at things, though, was being fed by my own feelings of inadequacy.

I could never play well enough. Even if I had the most points in the game, I still saw the ones I missed or the errors I made.

A test that scored an A should have been an A+. Every conversation I had, I analyzed on repeat noting every flaw and missed opportunity.

I’ve written about this idea before in “Loved into Confidence,” but I think we need to hear it again. I know I need to hear it again.

We constantly compare ourselves to others. We see them as smarter, prettier, more successful, etc. Our value is based on comparisons with others whom we assume are better than us in some way. We scroll through social media, looking at unending filtered, posed photos and photoshopped models. How can we compare to that?

Of course we feel frumpy and ugly. Of course we have poor body images.

It’s exhausting and defeating to live this way.

The thing is…we don’t have to.

Max Lucado wrote a children’s book called You Are Special that I’ve read to my son since he was tiny. It’s a beautiful story of a town of wooden people called Wemmicks. The Wemmicks are an interesting group. They walk around rating each other with dot or star stickers. If you do something great, you get a star sticker. Do something embarrassing or make a mistake, though, and it’s dots for you, loser.

The story follows one Wemmick who is covered in dots. He can’t do anything right and feels hopeless and ashamed under the stigma of all his dots. Then, he meets a girl Wemmick who has no dots OR stars. Nothing.

In fact, when someone tries to stick either to her, they just fall off. Nothing sticks. Not one thing the world tells her she is - good or bad - sticks. The Wemmick covered in dots is amazed by her and wants that for himself, so he asks her how she came to be that way.

The answer is simple. She spends time with Eli, the woodcarver who created them. We find out the stickers from Wemmicks won’t stick to her because she has learned the only thing that matters to her is what Eli thinks of her - and guess what? He loves her. Why?

Spoiler: It’s not because she’s beautiful or talented. It’s simply because he created her.

What if it is really that easy?

What if all we have to do is focus on what our maker thinks of us, and what others think of us will stop “sticking”?

I have good news! It. Is. That. Easy.

Many verses in the Bible that will show you God loves you, but I’ll stick with just one.

Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

God didn’t wait for us to get our act together before He showed us his love. He doesn’t sit back and count us unworthy because we went up two sizes. When we miss an appointment or forget about a special dress-up day at school, He’s not snickering in the background like a mean girl.

That’s never been who He is.

The God we serve sees us as beautiful and worthy of love. Why? Because like the woodworker in Max Lucado’s story, He made us. It really is that simple.

He loves us so much that while we were still sinners, acting against him, Jesus died to save us.

Do you really think that kind of love is worried about a few wrinkles or a B on a test?

I want to share one more thing with you, a poem by Christian Rossetti.

An emerald is as green as grass;

A ruby red as blood;

A sapphire shines as blue as heaven;

A flint lies in the mud.

A diamond is a brilliant stone,

To catch the world’s desire;

An opal holds a fiery spark;

But a flint holds fire.

Did you know the Holy Spirit is sometimes referenced as a flame (Acts 2:3-4)? I like to think of that and this poem together.

Too often we count ourselves unworthy because we see ourselves as gray and dull in a world of sparkling jewels.

But we are made to hold fire - God’s holy fire. What an honor!

So ask yourself whose opinion matters most: The one who made you and laid down His life for you? Or other people just like you, full of their own imperfections, flaws, and judgments?

Choose to find your worth in the one who is worthy.

In his eyes and unconditional love, nothing the world tries to put on you will stick.