On to the post!
So, to glorify God, what exactly is worth anything? I have, in the past, struggled with weight issues, image issues, people issues, basically any issues you can think of. Always, with these issues comes a sense of "Who am I?" or "How does this define me?". If we think fo these things from a human perspective, we will find that we are let down so often it's ridiculous. However, what does the Bible say about what we are worth?
Recently, I was preparing a talk on Galatians 1:1-10. From verse 1-9, it is basically Paul outlining what the gospel is and how there are false teachers going around and perverting the true gospel, which is that Jesus came to earth, lived a sinless life, died a sinner's death, and rose again from the grave. This is the gospel. Jesus. That's it. Nothing else. That is all we have and really all we should want. (God gives us stuff in our lives because He loves us, but that is another post for another day.) Paul also says that anybody who preaches a false gospel is condemned, that is, he is going to hell.
So what exactly is a false gospel? Simply put, it is anything that adds anything to Jesus. It could be works, or capitalism, or feminism, or circumcision, or giving - once again, the list could go on forever. I have to put a disclaimer here. These are not necessarily inherently bad things. They become bad when we use them as ways to get salvation from God. Here is a simple statement that I have overlooked for so long, and it is so easy to understand. When Jesus was nailed to that cross, he paid it all. ALL. Not most and we do some works and we are saved. All of it. This means your worth needs to come from Him, not from the people you meet or your job or your husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, best friend - nobody but Jesus.
So what is with the title of the post? I heard someone say a very cliché phrase today - "If that person was worth their weight in salt..." I know that gets thrown around, but I really thought about that today. Here is the thing, if your worth is not in Jesus, if you don't find your identity in Him, you have no real worth. For all of those who are now offended, here is what I mean. Do you have worth as a person? Yes. Every person has worth. That is not what I am talking about. I am talking about finding your OWN worth. If your OWN worth is not found in God, it is meaningless. In the Bible, King Saul tells of parties where he had to kill a thousand cows just to feed everybody, and bring thousands of barrels of wine for the guests. That's a party! And you know what he says? It's all vanity. It means NOTHING! It has no worth.
Back to the Bible. In verse 10, Paul say this - "For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." Here is what Paul just said. Am I seeking my worth in man? Or is it in God? If' my worth is in man, it is meaningless. However, because my worth is in Christ, there is huge meaning to it. What Paul does for us here is that he basically both tells us where our worth should be, and also asks if it is there.
Glorifying God with our worth - what does that mean? It means that no longer are we slaves to silly things like supermodel images, what people say about us, our cars, houses, laptops, cell phones, jobs, none of that garbage. It means we find our worth in Him - and only Him. When we find our worth in Him, I believe we have no worth in salt, but rather our worth in Him is like pure gold.
To glorify God...
