What Is Your Worth?

Lately I have been reading numerous posts on Facebook describing how during this Covid-19 scare, it is those who lack college that are the most valuable members of society. The farmer, grocery store worker, truck driver, sanitation worker, etc. are allowed to work during this crisis because they are considered “key essential” personnel and thus, the ones who are of real value to a society.

This is true, they are of great value, and I would say that they have been overlooked for quite some time but for those who say this, have they not considered that doctors and nurses, both of which require a college degree, are extremely important during this crisis? They are being exposed to infected, sick people daily.

What about biologists, chemists, and others who are working to find a cure? What about the professors who taught them how to do this? There are government officials who are trying to maintain order and making policy for the good of all, are they of no real value? There are certainly many others of great value and I don’t mean to ignore any, but I think my point is made; there are those, both with a college degree and without, who make a difference in our daily lives, especially during a health crisis such as we are dealing with today.

What gives a person worth?

Does what we do, how we benefit others, determine our worth or is it something else? Does the amount of money we make increase our value? Does simply having a college degree give us greater worth? Perhaps we could change the wording to more accurately express what we mean or should mean. I thought the term “key essential,” in this case, was accurate but after reading other people’s opinions on this, I’m not so sure.

What gives a person worth?

From a biblical perspective, what gives you and me worth is God. Go to Genesis, the first book of the Bible, the first chapter, and we find God saying, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” (Gen. 1:26, NKJV). The next verse states, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen. 1:27, NKJV).

If you read carefully, you will discover that out of all creation, only man was created Imago Dei, in the image of God. This does not mean that we bare His physical appearance. It means that we are self-aware, we know good from evil, we have the ability to use reason and logic, etc. I would also argue that we have an innate sense that God exists; I believe He planted this in us to guide us to seek Him. This would explain why man has always had gods. We know there is something out there that is responsible for this world, for rain, the sun, harvest, life, death, and so on.

Great thinkers throughout time have sought to answer the questions of origin, meaning, morality, and destiny. I have written about this before (see blog posts from March 23, 2015; Jan 4, 2015) so I will not elaborate much here but to say, from my studies, only the God of the Bible gives us clear answers to these questions:

Origen – As we saw earlier from Genesis, chapter one, we were created by God and for God.

Meaning or purpose – Our purpose is to worship God and live in communion with Him.

Morality – God gave us instructions in the Bible. To live morally glorifies God and blesses man.

Destiny – Heaven or hell. God gives us the choice but on His terms.     

What gives a person worth?

Wealth? 

While having an abundance of money can be nice, it can also cause many problems. It can change us for better or worse. It can bring bad people into our lives because they seek to gain from our wealth; some can be family members and relationships can be destroyed. Some may think too highly of themselves and try to lord over others, including family. The Bible warns about greed, haughtiness, and wrong thinking (1 Tim. 6:10). It has quite a lot to say about wealth and wise is he who seeks knowledge in the matter. There is nothing wrong with wealth if it is used for good but it does not give us worth, at least not true worth.

Status/Power? 

God is a God of order and he gives some authority to rule over others to maintain order. The Scriptures tell us that God sets rulers and deposes rulers (Dan. 2:21) and, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgement on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil… (Romans 13:1-3, NKJV). What it does not say is that those in authority are any better, they are simply placed in a position to carry out God’s plan for their life but He can end that at any time.

Education? 

The Bible, especially in the writings of King Solomon, speaks to the issue of knowledge and education. Solomon, considered by many to be the wisest man to ever live, said, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov. 1:7, NKJV). I think there is a misconception today about education. On the one hand, some argue that formal education, college/university, makes you superior. Perhaps this is most prevalent in the military and corporate world. 

Most CEO’s are college graduates but not all. Take Bill Gates (Microsoft), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), and Richard Branson (Virgin records, airlines, etc.) for example. Gates and Zuckerberg dropped out of college and Branson never graduated from high school. Would anyone argue their intelligence? At the same time, to my knowledge, none of these practice any religious faith. While they may be intelligent, by human standards, they are not by God's standard.  

In the military, officers are college graduates but there are also thousands of enlisted personnel who have degrees. I feel it is safe to say, formal education does not make you superior, but I do believe it can be helpful, sometimes necessary. Would you allow a person to operate on you who never went to medical school?  

   

What gives a person worth?

One thing we all share in common, rich or poor, educated or not, ruler or slave, we will all surely die and stand before the Lord one day. Will He judge us based on any of these criteria? No! He will judge us based on whether we received His gift of eternal life, bought and paid for through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. Our salvation is based on nothing more nor less, but our rewards will be based on what we did with what we were given.

Remember the parable of the man who left his three servants’ money to invest while he was gone? One received five talents, another two, and the third got one talent. When he returned, the one who had been given five had doubled his master’s money; the man with two had done the same. The one who had been given one talent, probably because he was never a good worker anyway, had buried his in the ground and did nothing. Even if he had put it in the bank, the talent would have drawn interest, but he was so lazy that he would not even do that, he simply did not care (Mat. 25:14-30).

What has God given you? Did you go to college? Graduate high school? Get your GED? Do you work in a bank, a gas station, hardware store? Are you an accountant, a fireman, a doctor, or a lawyer? Do you repair appliances, do home repair, or work in sanitation?

I would say that whatever you do, whatever your education, do it as unto the Lord and not men (Col. 3:23). Seek His approval and pleasure and do not judge others as better or lesser than yourself. Is God not the ruler and judge over all?

Friend, if you are struggling with a sense of superiority or inferiority, give it to God and ask Him to show you how to please Him and be content wherever you are in life. Some of the happiest people I have known had almost nothing but they had peace, contentment, and joy in the Lord. I desire this more than anything this world has to offer. 

May God bless you as you seek Him~