Worthless

If you told me I was worthless, I wouldn't believe it. It's a preposterous lie. Everything within me would reject that proposition. I know God doesn't make garbage.

But somehow, in a million tiny and not-so-tiny ways, I was told that I was worth less. And I believed it.

"In humility, consider others better than yourselves."
"Each of you. . . Should look to the interest of others."
"If anyone would follow Me, they must deny themselves."
"Honour one another above yourself."

Each of these statements is in the Bible. Somehow, honouring others above myself translated to "I am worth less than others." Humility meant accepting that I am not as important as other people. My opinions, thoughts, feelings and ideas should be quietly set aside, and in this way I could truly love people. Other people take precedence over me.

This sounds so spiritual, so humble, so self-sacrificial.

But is it?

The same God who created you also created me.

If you have infinite worth, if you were worth God dying on a tree, then so am I.

I am not worth less.

We, each one of us, are unique, and our worth is utterly beyond computation. Amongst humankind, there is no such thing as worth less.

And now I look back on these statements. None of them actually talk about our intrinsic value as humans. They talk about our actions. We are not what we do. We do what we are.

And we are not worth less.