What am I worth? What is my real value? I have asked myself those questions at times in my life and I think we have all questioned ourselves like that in some way. There are many ways to measure our value. By the latest estimate the chemicals making up our physical body are worth a total of $160. (Inflation has pushed that figure up considerably since I was a boy.) The total dollar value of all of the organs in our body would come to as much as $45,000,000. Of course those figures have no meaning unless we are dead and it appears at this rate that by then most of my organs will be pretty much worn out and useless.
In a court of law, when there is a wrongful death suit the value of the person’s life is determined by their earning power and the number of people who were dependent on them. But again that is a value after the person is dead.
What am I worth as a living, breathing human being? It depends who you ask. Those who know and love me might say I am priceless, while someone I just cut off in traffic accidentally might say that I’m a waste of good oxygen. Those kinds of evaluations vary greatly and are dependent on our relationships. In the final analysis there is only one opinion and relationship that establishes our worth and that is God’s. He made it possible for us to have a permanent relationship with Him through the life, death and resurrection of His Son. (John 3:16) So what does God think I’m worth.
Two of my favorite worship songs have answered that question for me. The first says, “You thought I was worth saving, so you came and changed my life. You thought I was worth keeping, so you cleaned me up inside. You thought I was to die for, so you sacrificed your life. So I could be free; so I could be whole; so I could tell everyone I know.” The other one says, “I am who He says I am and He says I am His own.”
When I think that the Creator of the universe has put such a high value on me and my life, I am overwhelmed. It has done wonders for my self-esteem, but I cannot boast for as Paul correctly pointed out to the Corinthians, “As the Scriptures say, ‘If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord’”