We Are Valued by God

"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works." Psalm 139:14

Someone once said to me, "I am not worth anything to God." I asked why and she listed all her sins. Some Christians, myself too in times past, have that same mindset. I was reminded recently that God loved us already, knowing before we were born that we were going to sin. Why does He love us then? Because He made us, and He made us in His image.

Have you ever built something or created a work of art? How did you feel when your masterpiece was finished? Most of the time, you loved it because it was something you made, having put all your heart and soul into it. It may not have been perfect like the picture on the box or in a magazine, but it was yours, and you gave it all you had, with great joy. It is the same with God except He made us perfectly. He put us together with all of His heart, soul, and mind. Hear what the psalmist has to say about it: "For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works" Psalm 139:13-14. I love how the psalmist appreciates God's handiwork.

Although it is God who made us, we know that the intimate union of a man and a woman brings about the conception of a child. We had something to do with making our children. But all we did was join the egg and the sperm. God designed us. He took mom and dad' s unique genes, and formed every part of us: our hands, feet, limbs, facial features, our brain chemistry, our temperament, etc. etc. So let us not say to God, "I am ugly and useless. Why did You make me?" Doing so insults the Master Artist, God, our Creator. Isaiah said, "Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker...Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say, 'He has no hands'?" Isaiah 45:9

Some of us have more physical beauty than others. Some of us have nicer legs, prettier hair, more beautiful eyes. Some of us have more aptitude for something than others. Perhaps someone's temperament draws more people than yours. Friends, it is only the world that says those things are important. When we come to the point of realizing that God sees us as His beautiful work of art that is priceless in cost, we will learn to value ourselves. Our mom's were right when we came into the kitchen with a long face and told her our friends were smarter, more athletic, nicely dressed, and are more popular than us and that we hate ourselves. And our Mama's said "Susie, God did not make junk when He made you. You are beautiful in all the important ways, and if you allow yourself to be who God created you to be, people will be thrilled to have you in their lives and you can be a blessing to everyone you meet. And you will be fulfilling God's purpose in your life." I wish all mothers spoke like that to their children. I was blessed to have such a mother.

No matter what we have done in our lives, God values us because we are His. Some people have said to me, "No, the Bible says that we are as filthy rags." I respectfully beg to differ. The verse comes from Isaiah 64:6 which says, "All our righteous acts are like filthy rags..." (NIV). Another version says, "Each of our good deeds is merely a filthy rag." This verse is not saying we are filthy rags, it is saying our deeds, even our good ones, are filthy rags compared to God's perfect standard. And it is true that because we sin, we don't deserve God's grace (that is why it is grace silly). And yet He gives it to us anyway, freely I might add. Why? Because He loves us.

If we are not of any value to God, why would He love us? If we are not of any value to Him, then why did Christ suffer and die a hideous death on the cross in our place, for our punishment? No one, no human would offer his body to go through the punishment for someone we had no value of. Only a God, who made us and loves us, would do so. So don't put yourself through the "I am unlovable and useless" thing. You are precious, I am precious, valued and loved by God. We are His precious children of God. And that means everything.

© Lori Colbo 2010. All rights reserved.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.