When it comes to understanding our self-worth, perhaps the best way to get a grasp on it is to realize that self-worth, at its best, does not even come from ourselves, but rather from God. He chose us as His own before He established the foundations of the world (Ephesians 1:3–4). We were created in His image (Genesis 1:26–27). We have been fearfully and wonderfully made: "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well" (Psalm 139:14). Upon establishing our belief in Christ, we are God's children and have an inheritance in heaven with Him (Ephesians 1:13–14).
All of these things listed above were done either for us or in us by God—we have not done anything to deserve them. This shows that our truest self-worth comes from Christ. Our worth is not found in our own self but in Christ and who He has created us to be in Him.
So, how much does God value us? Jesus Christ died for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:1–5). God gave us value by giving us His righteousness. "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Rather than basing our worth in our own "self," we should rely on God's authority on this. The fact that Jesus died on the cross, giving His life for us, tells us how much worth God has placed on us and how valuable we are to Him.
God's thoughts are always on us—they outnumber the grains of sand on the earth. David wrote, "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand …" (Psalm 139:17–18). The fact that God instills His worth in us outweighs any sense of self-worth we could try to instill in ourselves.
Attempting to create self-worth on our own is inherently prideful because it implies that we think we can do a better job at it than God or that what He has given to us is not enough. In our modern world, it's easy to compare ourselves to others and find our value in how we measure up next to them. God measures our worth differently than mankind does: "… For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). The best way we can find a sense of self-worth is to focus our attention on how God sees us and has placed His worth on us. He values us far more than anyone else, even ourselves, can. We have infinite worth because of Christ (John 3:16).
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