We constantly think about value, whether we are shopping, assessing a cause, weighing options, considering a friendship, or even contemplating our own worth. An inferiority complex is near fatal to your life’s destiny, and is very common, even among Christians.
What is value? It depends on who you ask! It is said that one man’s trash is another’s treasure – a true statement, especially when it comes to spiritual matters. Outward appearance can be very deceptive, which is why you don’t judge a book by its cover. What you see is not necessarily what you get.
History is replete with examples of people that would never win a contest, yet were handpicked by God to do great exploits for Him. There is a stark difference between the value that God places on a person, and the opinions of those around you.
Moses killed a man, but God used him to write the law for the Jewish nation. Gideon was a coward, yet God used him to free Israel from the oppression of the Midianites. David was a murderer and adulterer, but God called him a man after His own heart. Rahab was a Canaanite prostitute, but her name found a place in Jesus’ genealogy. Paul brutally persecuted the church, but God called him to write two-thirds of the New Testament. A highly trained Pharisee, he was sent to take the gospel to Gentiles, while Peter, an uneducated fisherman, known for speaking before he thought things through, became the apostle to the Jews. God’s value system makes no sense to the natural mind.
He calls light to shine from darkness, and then destroys darkness with it – 2 Corinthians 4:6
He hides His treasures in earthen vessels – 2 Corinthians 4:7
He uses the foolish of this world to put to shame the wise – 1 Corinthians 1:27-28
Judas valued Jesus at thirty pieces of silver, but God highly exalted Him, and gave Him a name that is above all names, and a seat above all power and principality, so that every knee will bow before Him, and every tongue confess that He is Lord.
What is your personal value? One of the most foolish things you can do as a Christian is to allow other people to determine your worth. The true value of an item is what you are willing to pay for it, and that makes you priceless, for you were bought with the blood of the Son of God Himself.
…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 1 Peter 1:18,19
God paid that high price for you in spite of your perceived shortcomings; He thought of you highly enough to give His best so that He could call you His own. You are His workmanship, (Ephesians 2:10) and we know He did not make any failures; you are exactly what He wanted you to be. Moreover, He adopted you as His own child “according to the good pleasure of His will.” (Ephesians 1:5)
Because you were bought at a high price, God will take care of you, just as we take good care of our valuables. A low self-worth is the seedbed of worry and anxiety, but an understanding of your true value breeds hope and confidence.
Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:26
Shortcomings only become apparent when you compare yourself to others, but what you might see as a deficiency, is, in actual fact, your uniqueness – it is what sets you apart from everybody else. The more unique an item is, the higher its value. Stamps, coins and banknotes with flaws are worth much more than their face value, including those that are perfect. This is how you should look at yourself – you are the way you are because you were handcrafted for a specific purpose.
Instead of hiding in inferiority, develop the gift that is dormant inside of you. Rather than bemoaning your flaws, sharpen the edge that you have been given. Nobody listens when everybody sounds the same; you are different because God wants you to be heard. Originals are always more pricey than copies. Speak, write, create – be yourself with a boldness that comes from the freedom of knowing your true value in the eyes of God, and who you are in Christ.
The world is working hard to make everybody equal under the guise of tolerance, but individuality is not a threat to anyone. There is great danger though in controlling the thoughts of people, because you don’t know who is behind it. Authenticity provides the necessary checks and balances that keep society safe. Christianity is the only force for freedom in the world, empowered by men and women who understand who they are in Christ, and who appreciate what has been given to them by God. You are a greater threat to the devil than you think, and that makes you valuable in the Kingdom of God.
May the value that God places on you be your motivation to rise up to out to become all that He made you to be!
Are you a graduate of WordWise Word School? Tell us about your ministry! We are spread around the world in so many nations, but we can be a blessing and motivation to one another when we share what the Lord is doing in and through us.
Introducing Ophelia Panopio – WordWise graduate of the Class of 1998
It’s a great privilege to share with those of you who are connected with WordWise Network how I started my ministry here in Brussels. After acquiring knowledge and wisdom from WordWise Word School in 1998, where I was one of the first students under the untiring efforts of Pastor Johan & his lovely wife Gerda, I was challenged by my local pastor to start a teaching ministry among my fellow Filipinos of 11 people at Praise Center, my mother church.
By the grace of God, I was able to lead this small group by what I have learned from WordWise. Twice a month I preached according to the pattern that I have learned from WordWise School. This went on for almost 3 years. Then I started to ask the Lord why He called me to the ministry there even though I had no legal papers. I fasted and prayed so many times for it because I felt guilty as I preached the Word of God, thinking I am not a good teacher/preacher if I don’t submit to the authorities, as we are told to do in the book of Romans.
At that time I chose to go back to my country with the prayers of my pastor that I would come back to Brussels legally, with my husband and two youngest sons. Nine months after I left, my pastor sent me the legal papers that were required, with 4 airplane tickets. It stirred my faith, so we rejoiced with great hope and blessing because God’s will was done. I enrolled with my husband in Logos Bible School while still leading a Bible Study group, preaching, and leading a prayer meetings, as well as house-to-house evangelism with the help of some missionaries from the US.
It took 3 years for us to graduate, and after much prayer and motivation, my husband was ordained as the pastor of the Filipino congregation, and myself as an evangelist. After a few months, we opened a Bible Study group in Hagen (Germany) which has now grown into a church. It now also has a daughter church in Siegen, already five years old at this time.
We visit my hometown in the Philippines every two years to do house-to-house evangelism, and a church has also been planted there. We also work with other ministries there to do Bible Studies and an outreach into the local prison. Another church was added, and we support their prison ministry – the only church that is authorized by the government to work inside the prison. We minister salvation to the prisoners, including rehabilitation for drug addicts in coordination with the City.
Glory to God for more souls that are added every 2 weeks! Even though we are not there physically, we oversee the church through the pastors there.
All of this is possible because of the Word of God in Matthew 28:19,20 – the Great Commission! We are doing what WordWise is doing in line of teaching, training, and seminars to poor churches in some parts of the Philippines. We now go home once or twice a year to equip God’s servants who were not able to go to well-known Bible Schools, yet they pastor their churches because their heart’s desire is to stand in the fulness of their calling.
We realize that to have a kingdom mindset we ought to help people outside of our own church affiliation, and we can serve each other by encouraging those that we have taught through the internet, whether they are pastors or lay leaders. We see some quick conversions when they apply what we shared with them. Praise the Lord, they are growing in faith and in numbers, which is a reward on our efforts, love and faith.
To all of Wordwise Network, we covet your prayers for us to continue what God has started in us until Jesus comes back with His reward. Hallelujah! We expect greater things to come because we do what we have learned from our beloved school “WordWise” in the persons of Pastor Johan & Sister Gerda du Toit.
The Holy Spirit is the most misunderstood, misrepresented and under-appreciated person in modern theology. Fake news abounds when it comes to the Holy Spirit and His work, and the church is weaker and poorer for it. A sober look at what the Bible has to say about Him will introduce you to a living, caring, truth-revealing and omnipotent Person who has been assigned to be our companion, helper, comforter and guide in a world that is hopelessly lost and confused. He has all the answers that you need and all the power to destroy the works of the devil, and He wants to live in you. God is the Father above us; Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, and the Holy Spirit is God in us. You need to know Him.
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