Self-Worth

Self-worth-it pulls on the heart strings of everyone I know. It’s where we find our purpose & value & meaning & strength & will to push through. There are 2 girls in the Bible I adore & I wrote about them in my memoir Half Written. Their stories completely have my attention because their self-worth was down the drain. They were doing hurtful things to themselves and to others. They were sleeping around with men. Men that were lonely. Men that were drunk. Men that were married. There are women like this today, doing what these girls did. They are called sluts or home wreckers and a slew of other profane names. Many believe they don’t deserve anything or they deserve what they asked for. And though my story is different than theirs, I can identify with them.  And the thing about their stories is we don’t know where these women came from or why they started doing what they did. We don’t know why their worth was so deeply rooted in scandal that it cost them their reputation. But I do know that I have been there. In that place of longing for someone to fill a void- even if it was for a fleeting moment of passion-even if it was wrong. I know what it’s like to search for validation in all the wrong places. 

And while I don’t know the why behind what the girls did, I do know these girls mattered. They matter because they are in the Bible but most importantly their lives matter because of Jesus. You may have guessed the girls I’m talking about; the first one is the prostitute with the alabaster jar, the second is the woman who committed adultery. And there is something extravagantly different about each of their stories, yet one thing that unites them in audacious love. The prostitute sought out Jesus. She was done with her wretched life of sin. She was so dry and parched. She needed someone to see her for more than what she had become. The woman who committed adultery was literally plucked from her sin and thrown in front of Jesus. She was not seeking Him out in any way. Here is where God just amazes me- He saw worth in these woman & He forgave. He forgave the one who sought Him out and the one who was flung at His feet about to be stoned. When others were disgusted and angry, Jesus claimed Redemption. He gave these 2 girls a worth to hold onto. He gave them what no one could give them OR take away-unconditional, unimaginable, amazing, sweet, glorious GRACE.  

In my memoir Half Written I share more insights about their stories, but for today I need to tell you that your worth is beyond measure. Jesus is the only one that can give us such value! His love proclaims- I love every bit of you just as you are. And even if you’re in a mess of sin, I can pluck you out. I can wash you clean, white as snow. Jesus is the only one that will hold you when everyone else walks out. He is the only One that will look upon you with love despite your brokenness. And all of these things proclaims His goodness and His glory. Dear beautiful friend-wherever you are and whatever your doing-always find your worth in Him alone.