Focal Passage: Jeremiah 1:4-10
If you’ve ever had an item appraised, you know that certain qualities make an item more valuable. Its age, the material it’s made from or what it can do all play a part in determining its value. But how are people appraised? What makes a person valuable? Who is allowed to say how much someone is really worth? Unfortunately, people are often given value based on what they can offer to others. People are sometimes given value that is dependent on how much money they make or how high their grades are. God, however, is the only one who can rightly assign value. And He doesn’t do so according to man’s skewed standards.
To every human life, God gives value. To each person He gives worth and purpose. Because all people are valuable to God, all people have purpose. God does not arbitrarily create. Whatever our perceived capability, God has given to each of us a reason to exist.
Regardless of the outcomes of our lives, God is with us as we carry out our purpose for Him. We need not fear the tasks that He puts in front of us. He will not leave us to ourselves, but He promises His presence to help us along. Along with His presence, God also gives us all that we need to fulfill His purpose for us.
To the vulnerable, the unborn, the poor and the marginalized, God gives value and purpose. Even those whom the world deems worthless have worth to God. God does not value us based on what we can give to Him or even what we can give to the world. He doesn’t appraise us based on our skills, successes or failures. Because God is the one who created us, we are valuable to Him and from that value flows the purpose that God has given us to image Him in the world.