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ABUNDANT LIFE - VALUE

Matthew 10:29-31
March 7, 2010

    One of our most basic human needs is the need for value.  A certain bright-eyed little third grader loved his teacher, but he failed all his tests and lost all his homework.  One day, the exasperated teacher looked at him and said, “Rodney, you are very smart and you could be one of my best students . . .”  Then, before she could finish scolding him, he looked up at her with large serious eyes and said, “I didn’t know that!”

    From then on things were different.  Rodney did become one of her best students.  You see, when he realized his value, it changed his life.

I.  THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF WORTHLESSNESS:

    The negative effects of worthlessness are deadly.  Being deprived of attention and approval can literally kill a child in the earliest stages of life.  As we grow older, our need for physical strokes is extended into the need for emotional strokes.  This means being noticed, being respected, being valued and having our achievements recognized.

    Children will demand attention, but adults often deny this need.  They seem to be embarrassed by compliments and appreciation.  But they still need them.

    Strokes are to the psyche what food is to the body.  When we cannot get this need filled in a legitimate manner, we will do whatever we have to do to get it.  Children who do not get strokes in a healthy way, get them in unhealthy ways.  Being singled out as bad, causing trouble, or becoming the family failure are all negative ways of getting recognition.

    Our “value mark” gets set at an early age, and affects us the rest of our lives.  People who feel worthless will live down to that evaluation.  They will allow and even seek out abuse.  They will actually sabotage their own success and happiness because they don’t  feel they deserve it.

    Some individual’s need for approval can be so great that they become workaholics or people pleasers.  Furthermore, they filter life situations through negative lens.  They discount what’s right and look for what’s wrong.  Nothing is ever good enough!  According to legend, a farmer once took his new hunting dog out for a “test run.”  Presently he shot a duck.  The dog walked out on the water, retrieved the duck and brought it in.  The farmer rubbed his eyes, and tried again, with the same result.

    Bewildered and completely flabbergasted, he invited an unusually pessimistic and critical neighbor to go with him the following day.  True to form, when either man hit a bird, the dog would walk out on the water and retrieve it.  The neighbor said nothing.  The farmer said nothing.  Finally, unable to hold it in a moment longer, the owner of the dog blurted out, “Say, fellow, did you notice anything unusual about my dog?”

    The neighbor rubbed his chin reflectively, “Yeah,” he said at last.  “Yeah, come t’ think of it, I did.  That dog can’t swim, can he?

    Such negative individuals reveal their own feelings of inferiority.  Our Self-image reflects the value we put on ourselves.  A poor self-image that’s based on a sense of inferiority will affect our attitudes toward ourselves; our family; our friends and God Himself.  It can make us do unproductive things that compound our problems: We may resist authority, both earthly and divine; we may use wrong methods to gain acceptance; We may become preoccupied with the way we look; or we may daydream about being someone else.

    Few issues in the Christian faith are more misunderstood than this idea about self-esteem—self- worth.  The Scripture teaches us, on one hand, that we must value ourselves.  Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Matthew 22:39); yet at the same time, the Scripture condemns pride.  “If any person thinks himself to be . . . too important . . . he deceives and . . . cheats himself” (Galatians 6:3, amp). 

    The proper balance is a self-concept which recognizes that God gave us our value and we can’t be worthless when Christ is in our life.  Jesus came to give us abundant life, and no one can enjoy an abundant life without a sense of self-value!

II.  THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF VALUE:

    Value is a very important theme of the gospel because there are many positive effects of feeling valuable.  In fact, value is essential for abundant life.  Jesus emphasized the value of each unique individual.  He said, “Two sparrows cost only a penny, but not even one of them can die without your Father’s knowing it.  God even knows how many hairs are on your head.  So, don’t be afraid. You are worth much more than many sparrows” (Matt.  10:29-31).

    Jesus practiced this philosophy of good will toward others.  When Mary chose an unusual activity for a woman of that day, he supported her.  Martha had complained that Mary was discussing theology with Jesus instead of helping her in the kitchen, but he answered, “Only one thing is important. Mary has chosen the better thing, and it will never be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42).

    He saw and encouraged the worth of a very sinful woman who anointed his feet with perfume.  When the Pharisee who asked Jesus to come to his house saw this, he thought to himself, “ ‘If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman touching him is a sinner!’  Then Jesus . . . said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair . . . You did not put oil on my head, but she poured perfume on my feet.  I tell you that her many sins are forgiven . . .’ ” (Luke 7:37-39,44-47).

    He also said, “Wherever the Good News is preached in all the world, what this woman has done will be told, and people will remember her” (Matt.  26:13).

    Jesus even gave value to a hated traitor and thief named Zacchaeus.  The Scripture says, “A man was there named Zacchaeus, who was a very important tax collector, and he was wealthy.  All the people saw this and began to complain, ‘Jesus is staying with a sinner!’  Jesus said to him, ‘Salvation has come to this house today, because this man also belongs to the family of Abraham’ ” (Luke 19:2,7,9).

    God deals with individuals.  It is said that Julia Ward Howe wrote a senator in behalf of a man who was in trouble.  The senator replied that he was so busy with the affairs of the nation that he could not take time for individuals.  Her answer was, “Fortunately, God hasn’t reached this point.”  She was right.  In the parable Jesus did not speak of a lost flock, but of one lost sheep.

    Jesus knew that we live either up or down to the labels we are given, so he gave Peter a new name to live up to.  He said, “You are Peter. On this rock I will build my church, and the power of death will not be able to defeat it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; the things you don’t allow on earth will be the things that God does not allow, and the things you allow on earth will be the things that God allows” (Matt.  16:18-19).

    This transfer of power shows that God values us as His representatives.  When a certain wealthy humanitarian was questioned about the reasons for his great success, he explained, “As a child I almost drowned and a man rescued me.  When I thanked him, he replied, ‘You’re welcome son.  You were worth saving.’  That statement determined my “philosophy of life.” I knew I had to live up to that!”

    People who have value see worth in themselves and others.  They can succeed because they feel they deserve success.  They don’t let people abuse them and they don’t abuse others.  They tend to see the positive and ignore the negative.

    Value helps us experience an abundant life!

III.  HOW TO REALIZE VALUE:

    Now, if all of us have such a desperate need for value, then how can we realize it in our daily lives?

    Well we’re fortunate as Christians, because the Scriptures give many promises concerning our value.  The Scripture says, “God created human beings in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female” (Gen. 1:27).

    Isaiah illustrates God’s attitude toward us by using a dramatic analogy.  He quoted God as saying, “Can a woman forget the baby she nurses? . . . Even if she could forget her children, I will not forget you” (Isa.  49:15).

    The Psalmist said, “Why are people even important to you?  Why do you take care of human beings?  You made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.  You put them in charge of everything you made.  You put all things under their control” (Psa.  8:4-6).

    Later he said, “You made me in an amazing and wonderful way.  What you have done is wonderful” (Psa.  139:14).

    John said, “This is what real love is: It is not our love for God; it is God’s love for us. He sent his Son to die in our place to take away our sins” (1 John 4:10).

    In God’s eyes there is no such thing as an anonymous person.  Jesus died to make “somebodies” out of “nobodies!”  When we realize our value, then we will value others.  A great poet wrote:

    No man is an island—entire of itself.
    Every man is a piece of the continent;
    A part of the main.
    Any man’s death diminishes me
    Because I am involved in mankind.
    Therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls.
    It tolls for thee.

    One man said, “As a child I learned to grieve at funerals, even if I didn’t know who had died.  I was taught that when any man or woman dies, something very valuable had passed.  I’d sit there and just cry along with the rest of ’em.  You don’t just let a person die as though nothing has happened.  You must understand that a great loss has been suffered.”

    Every individual has infinite value.

    There is a story about of a young boy in Austria giving his first violin recital.  He had studied for years under one of the great masters.  The youth had tremendous talent, and he had learned his lessons well.  Now, before an audience of hundreds, he performed with confidence and skill. 

      Following each piece, the crowd clapped and cheered.  Yet, the boy didn’t seem to notice their expressions of approval.

    At the conclusion of the recital, the entire audience rose to give the young prodigy a standing ovation.  They shouted “Bravo” and “Encore!” and other words of praise.  Strangely enough, the young musician seemed almost distracted as he stood looking up into the balcony.  Finally, an old the gentleman in the balcony smiled and nodded his head.  Only then did the lad’s face beam with joy.  You see, the cheers of the crowd meant nothing until he had the approval of the master!

    If God values us, then that’s all that matters.  Other people’s opinions are unimportant.  Other people’s criticism and ridicule are unimportant.  Other people’s admiration and flattery are unimportant.

    Robert Browning wrote:  All I could never be, / All men ignored in me, / This, I was worth to God.”

    That’s what gives us value.

    So how can we realize this wonderful gift from God?  How can we feel valued and then pass on that gift to others?  Well, in order to do this, we must believe that Jesus offers not only life, but abundant life!  And abundant life includes value!
(WC1951)

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