You're Worth More Than Your Stuff


If you really want to know how rich you are count the things you have that money can't buy.

I don't know who first said that, but I sure do like it. We generally think of rich quite differently. Worse than this is how we define worth. Worth is a tricky word with its' different meanings. On the one hand we define someone's net worth as the sum total of all they possess. How much I have in the bank combined with what I own, less my debts, is what I'm worth.

You're worth so much more than the result of this mathematical equation.

"Then he said, 'Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own'." Luke 12:15

But that's how we've always measured people. When we were kids it was whoever had the most baseball cards, the coolest bicycle, the nicest clothing, the latest game system. As teens it was how we dressed and what we drove. Then it spills right over into adulthood. 

It's a lie.

You're value is not measured by what you possess. Imagine you worked hard and saved and accumulated your whole life. Things went well and you managed to get a million dollars into your retirement account. Then one day you had a unique opportunity to have lunch with a billionaire. Will he be impressed with your bank statement? Now imagine trying to impress God with it. 

That's not an endorsement of poor stewardship. The Bible has a lot of teaching on money that are important to apply in our lives. It is a recognition that God won't measure us when we stand before him by our earthly financial worth. The labels on our cars and clothing won't spill over into eternity with us. God has a different standard of values. Which means I don't have to possess things to be valuable.

Too much of life is spent trying to get more stuff. We go to work so we can make money so we can get more stuff. We get paid and run to the store to buy more stuff. "I gotta get more stuff," is what drives us. I need that outfit, those shoes, this TV, that car, the new phone. If I can just get more stuff I'll be happier. It's an endless cycle, and it's a trap.

You're the treasured possession of God. You're his masterpiece. He bought you with a price, and that price was his very life. You're loved with an everlasting love. The people who truly love you don't measure you by your possessions. Stop comparing yourself to others and see yourself as the valuable person you are in Christ Jesus. There are people who love you who already see you that way. Be sure when you look in the mirror that this is what you're seeing as well. Because it's who you are.

Following the Son,
James A Williams

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