People with whom I work are probably sick of hearing me talk about their identities in Christ. But I find it is such a foundational piece of living that it must be discussed often. We also have been so steeped in lies that the truth of who we are in Christ seems laughable. We go about trying to prove we have value and worth through our productivity, our kindness, or some other circumstance or behavior. But this puts things in the wrong order. We do not love others or achieve success (however that is measured) in order to prove we have value—we must first understand we have value, and then we can behave as one who is loved.
Sometimes we try to use circumstances to prove our worth. We look around at what we have achieved, how productive we are, how we define success and if we have achieved some level of it. This is then supposed to help us understand that we have value. But when we place our value on these things, we end up with two problems. One is that we cannot control a lot of our circumstances, and if we struggle with physical health, financial difficulty, or some other external factor, we can end up deciding we have no worth because we cannot perform in our circumstances as we used to. The other problem is that once we attain whatever level of success we have determined will give us value, there is usually another step to take to keep increasing that value. There is no ending point. If we attain education, power, money or status, there is always another level that we have to keep pushing towards.
I was watching The Greatest Showman the other day again, and noticed that the main characters problems really boiled down to his not seeing worth in himself regardless of how well the world decided he was doing. He ended up alienating many people because of this strong drive to prove that he was something or that he belonged. We cannot define ourselves by our circumstances or we will be putting unrelenting pressure on pieces of our life that we don’t control, or that won’t satisfy.
Other times, we try to have other people tell us that we are worthwhile. But people are transient at best, and we don’t need to be riding one emotional rollercoaster after another trying to have someone who is consistent enough to make us feel something good about ourselves. Now, I don’t mean we don’t desire and even need relationships, but we don’t need them to prove we are loved or have value. Instead, we can enjoy them much more when we realize that worth is already established. We also don’t have to lose value or worth when the person with whom we are in relationship does something unkind or rejects us. If our value is based on another human relationship, we can often end up in a bad place because the human has just been acting like a human does—inconsistently.
Ok, so circumstances don’t work, and people don’t work to prove our worth. What about just telling yourself you have worth? I encounter a lot of this today where we decide that if we just recite some of these things over ourselves, we will believe them. The problem is that we don’t believe it, and we are still using people and circumstances to try to achieve the worth. The person may be ourself, but it still doesn’t work. There must be a foundation for the value and worth we believe we have, and the usual targets for finding this are actually shifting sands.
In John 8, Jesus is talking to some people and says that if we embrace the truth, it will release more freedom into their lives. The truth He is talking about is that we have been made children of God rather than slaves to sin. This is not a position we have earned or deserved, but rather we have simply accepted it. We have come into agreement that we can’t achieve freedom through any means other than Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, and then allowing Him to retrain us in who we are. Your worth is already been bestowed, as Jesus decided you were worth dying for to have relationship with you.
This is such beautiful news, as we also can’t do anything to dismiss the worth or value. If these things were never based on our behavior, we can’t make them go away with behavior either. There are a lot of things we can do to ourselves and others that will make us miserable or cause pain, but they cannot change that God has bestowed worth on us and in accepting that truth, we can have freedom.
To me, this is why understanding and operating from His definition of me is so important. No one can take that away, and it is a firm foundation based on His sacrifice and continued giving of His Life to me on a moment-by-moment basis. If I wake up in the morning and start thanking God that He is with me, He defines me, and He empowers me, I can face anything. Even the most impossible situation cowers before a person who believes they are loved and have worth. I know it might take a little while before you believe it, but at least start acknowledging it and thanking Him for it.
Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, “When you continue to embrace all that I teach, you prove that you are my true followers. For if you embrace the truth, it will release more freedom into your lives.” John 8:31-32