“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.”  ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3:7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

100 percent!!! Did you ever get a 100 on a test? What a good feeling that is! Right?! I remember a time in the fourth grade when I was the only person in our class that got a 100 on a Spanish quiz. And the teacher made sure to tell everyone, too! I remember how special I felt. It was like I had proved that I was worth paying attention to. I felt like I had achieved something. So much more than a test grade. I felt like I had proved that I had a right to exist. 

That moment became a motivating factor for my future life. It unconsciously became my goal to always get good grades after that. I don’t think grades really mattered to me until that moment. But why did it become so important? I think that God created me with a desire toward excellence, but that moment felt like I was set apart and valued in a way that I hadn’t been before. I wanted to prove my worth, so I wanted good grades. I wanted to feel valued all the time. Don’t you? 

I think we all crave affirmation in some way. We want someone to say, “Good job!” It makes us feel appreciated and like our efforts were worthwhile. But there is a trap in affirmation. We can become addicted to approval and work hard for the purpose of receiving it. We want to feel that we are good enough, approved, valued.

Is that what God wants for you and me? Does He want us to work hard for Him so that we can be valued and approved by Him and others? What really matters? 

God values you more than your good works. You matter.  I’ll be that you would say that you know that, right? But what you know in your head and what you know in your actions don’t always line up. Do they? 

The apostle Paul, before he became the apostle Paul, worked hard because of His zeal for the Jewish law. He thought it was zeal for God, but it was really a zeal for the legalistic approach to God. He devoted his zealous energy to protecting that way, even dragging Jesus-followers before the Jewish authorities to be punished. He thought that what He did was pleasing God. He worked hard for God without really knowing God. That is also a trap for Christians, actually, for all religious people regardless of their faith. People become passionate about a way of approaching God without really knowing God Himself. 

Let’s be brutally honest, okay? Honesty is the path to the freedom that God has for us. All those things that you and I do for God are not the things that really please Him. What pleases Him most? Your heart, and mine, focused on getting to know Him. The only way to get to know a person — and God is a person, a huge spiritual being, powerful and awesome, yes, but a person with emotions and personality — the only way to get to know a person is to spend time with them, listening to their heart and watching how they respond to things. Are you taking time to do that with God? All your activity for Him is of value, but not they are not what matter most.

Good works are a means of expressing love, not receiving it.  Are you hoping, subconsciously, that God will love you more as a result of your good works for Him? All those good things that you do, whether it is pursuing excellence on your job or in your home or in your church activities, will take on more joy when you allow them to be an outflow of love rather than an attempt to earn it. 

You are valuable, my friend, simply because God loves you. I hear you. “I know that!” you say. But, do you act out of that knowledge? What we know and what we really believe don’t always line up. Here’s my challenge to you: Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal your why. Invite Him to search your heart and show you your own motivation. Let Him help you shift from a place of trying to earn value to a place of living out of knowing that you are valued. Then what you do will become a grateful expression of receiving God’s love and letting it overflow to others. How’s that for a goal?

Jesus took the shame of failure at the cross so that I can focus on my relationship with God. No one likes to fail. I know I don’t! Failure is one of the things I struggle with most. I work hard NOT to fail. I want to be accurate in the information I give. When I give someone directions I want them to be correct. I want to be able to solve problems and help the people I care about. But there are times when even my best efforts fall short. The directions I was so sure of turn out to be off because I was disoriented and didn’t realize it. My loved one’s problem can’t be fixed by my efforts. I lose my patience and snap at someone I don’t want to hurt. All those failures add up to a feeling of shame, not being good enough no matter how hard I try. You do notice that some of those failures are things that are simply beyond my ability to control or fix, right? In those moments, when I don’t only feel like I am not enough, I really am not enough, I can come back to the cross of Jesus Christ. 

Jesus’ mission from the Father was to bear the shame of all my failure, all my not enough. Because of what Christ has done, the door is open to God and I can walk through it. Not because I am enough, but because Jesus is enough and what He did makes it possible. When I accept what Jesus did on the cross as enough, the burden of trying to be good and perfect and without fault at all is lifted. I can rest in His work and stop working so hard myself. I can be at rest. I can be at peace. Don’t you want some of that?

Listen, Dear Friend. Hear my heart and the heart of God. You are not valuable because of your good works for God and others. If you suddenly became unable to do more than just sit in a chair and BE, your value would not change one iota. You are you and that is the most valuable thing you can do. Be you. 

All the good things you do for God and others, from your regular devotions to your acts of service at church to caring for your family and neighbors, are wonderful and beautiful when they are expressions from a peaceful heart of love. How do you know when they are coming from that place? When you don’t feel like a failure if things don’t go well, when you aren’t devastated if your expressions are not received, when you don’t feel pressured to keep going no matter what, when you are limited by circumstances beyond your control and can rest in the reality that you can’t do a thing. I am not there yet, but I am closer than I used to be. 

Dear Friend, YOU are valuable because you are you. Jesus thought so, that’s why He went to the cross. What He did was enough and that is worth everything, isn’t it?

Key Thought: God values who I am more than what I do. So should I. 

A Scripture to Consider: “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3:7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A YES Challenge: Make a list of all your daily activities, including the things that you do in an effort to please God. As you prayerfully review your list ask God to show you why you do those things. Ask Him to show you what is really important to Him. Determine to make those things your priority.

Prayer: God, You know all the things that I have to do in a day to take care of my family and my responsibilities. I want to do those things well to honor You. You also know that my desire is to please You in all things. Help me to include You in all that I am doing  because what You want most is me. I don’t need to work hard to please You because Christ has already done what is necessary. You value me, not what I do. Help me to value myself more than my activities. Amen.