There is a vast difference between price and worth.

A paintbrush may cost a few cents, but in the hands of an artist, that paintbrush may be invaluable. A pair of ballet shoes may cost almost (or over) $100, but on the feet of Misty Copeland, those shoes allow her to share her gift of ballet with the world. A pair of glasses may retail for $99 at Vision World, but on my face (and with the correct prescription), those glasses literally become the lens through which I can clearly see the world. A price, as I told my students a few weeks ago in class, is the fixed number that two entities agree upon to trade for a good or service. Additionally, the price of an item can change over time as one or both parties changes their perception of the worth of said item. For example, if someone found one of Picasso’s paintbrushes, I’m sure they would attach a price to it higher than Picasso ever earned in his life. A pair of Misty Copeland’s worn ballet shoes (maybe the pair she wore when she retired as the first African American Principal Dancer at the American Ballet Theater) might be sold for millions of dollars at an auction simply because of who Misty is and her great contribution to the arts. And, while I do have a limit set by vision insurance on how much I can pay for frames and lenses, this is no price too high (ok, within reason) that I wouldn’t pay to be able to see.

Price is not value, and value is not price.

Yet for some reason, I always conflated the two and allowed the absence of one to make me doubt the validity of the other.

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Last week, after feeling spiritually depleted, I decided to intentionally take time to fellowship with the Lord. Unfortunately, my spiritual gas gauge is broken, and I did not realize that I was in need of spiritual nourishment until I was long past E and broken down on the side of life’s proverbial highway. I was exhausted- not physically and not mentally- but I could tell that I did not have what I needed to be able to function anymore. I needed to be filled with God’s PREMIMUM gas, and filled all the way to the top (not just the little $5 spotter that we often do to get from Point A to Point B). No, I needed the good, good stuff because I knew that my journey was going to be long. And with the ‘ber months bringing their frigid temperatures, I knew that the gas that I filled up on now would carry me for moments when I just needed to sit idle in the warmth of my vehicle. In case you are struggling to keep up with my car metaphor, I will restate it plainly:

I needed more of Jesus in order to survive the most arduous season of the year, and the more of Him and His Word that I was able to consume, the better prepared I would be to go before the Lord in prayer.

The car metaphor just ran better. 😉

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What I realized during my time with God was that for far too long I erroneously believed that since I did not have a price tag attached to me, I had no value. I don’t know how I came to that false conclusion, but somehow I did, and I had convinced myself that it was true. And with no perceived value, I could not only allow others to mistreat and abuse me, but I also inadvertently mistreated and abused myself. Sadly, when you do not know the true worth of something (or in this case, someone), you will always take advantage of it, disregard it, and dispose of it when you perceive its purpose has been met. Because I did not remember what God had written about me and spoken over my life, I did not remember the worth that I have in Him. To Him, I am worth more than Picasso’s paintbrush and the beautiful works that he created. To God, I am worth more than Misty Copeland’s ballet or pointe shoes and the price of a ticket to see her perform. To my Abba, I am worth more than the pricelessness of good vision. To our God, I am (and you are) worth dying for… and that’s why He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins.

In a very practical way, this truth helps me to understand why I cannot just live, speak, or be just any kind of way. I must carry myself with the full weight of the worth that I carry. This is no price that can effectively show just how much God loves me… or how much He loves you. There is no place on this earth that His love cannot reach and that He will not go to reunite with us when we are lost.

I needed to remember this last week because God is preparing me for something BIG, dare I say the biggest thing that I have ever done in my life, but I could not begin until I understood my worth.

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Beloved, please, take some time today to sit with some scriptures that did my heart well. God is so good, and He just wants the very best for us. I love you; be blessed.

1 Peter 2:9
John 1:12-13
Ephesians 1:4, 7, 13
Romans 8:28, 30