What am I worth? (9)
What I am worth is what I am!
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Reference: TRW-S01-009-Mw-R02-P3
(Originally spoken on 12 September 2004, edited on 22 October 2004, revised on 5 January 2005)
Web site: http://www.ajourneyinlife.org and http://www.ajourneyinlife.com
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Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
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Headings:
- True worth in God
- The I AM of God
- Relating in our totality
- The "I am" in us
- Comparison with others
- Critical requirement
- God the Gardener
- Summary
- Song
We are considering, in the series on True Worth, the subject "What am I worth?" Today we go on to the ninth message, and in this concluding message on the subject "What am I worth?", I will seek to concentrate on answering the question "What am I worth?"
How do we understand and appreciate what we are worth, and how can we then meaningfully develop so that there will be true worth and meaning in our lives?
True worth in God
We all know that true worth of absolutely good value is found in God. God is morally and spiritually perfect, and in Him is true worth of absolutely good value. It is therefore helpful for us to ponder: "How is true worth found in God?"
How do we appreciate true worth that is in God? First, we know that it is not determined by what people think of Him, what they say about Him, or how they treat Him.
Many people say: "I do not believe in God. He does not exist." Others say, "I do not trust Him. I will not follow Him."
Even Christians may have many different concepts about God.
Ultimately, what God is worth is not determined by all this.
In Psalms 10: 2-4, we have a description of wicked people. We are told:
Psalms 10: 2-4
- In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
- For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD.
- The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, "There is no God."
So the wicked... they curse, they spurn God... they do not seek Him. His thoughts are, "There is no God" ; he boasts of his heart's desire.
Whatever they may think and say or do will not change the worth that is found in God.
Even the people of Israel whom God specially called to be a people for His own possession did not respond well to God.
Ezekiel 18: 29 tells us:
Ezekiel 18: 29
- "But the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not right.' Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right?"
So even the people of Israel made this statement: " The way of the Lord is not right. " Again, this does not change the rightness of God's ways. It is the people of Israel who were not right in their ways — there is an ultimate objective reality.
We find the same applies to the Lord Jesus, and also to us.
Matthew 11: 16-19 describes a situation.
Matthew 11: 16-19: The Lord Jesus said:
- "But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children,
- and say,' We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.'
- "For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon!'
- "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."
The people made comments; they had expectations of what John the Baptist ought to be, what the Lord Jesus ought to be. But their opinions, their expectations, did not determine the true worth in the Lord Jesus, nor in John the Baptist.
Likewise for the apostle Paul... he wrote in 2 Corinthians 10: 10
2 Corinthians 10: 10
- For they say, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive, and his speech contemptible."
These people made very strong negative remarks about the apostle Paul, but this would not determine his worth. Neither would it determine his worth if they spoke very highly of him.
The moral being of God
So we recognize that ultimately the moral worth in God is found in the moral being of God.
It is not determined by what others say or do, or what they think of Him, but it is found in the moral being of God.
Isaiah 6: 1-5 describes Isaiah's experience when he beheld the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted. He said that he saw the seraphim... and one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory."
In that context, Isaiah recognized he was in the presence of the God of perfect holiness, and he said, " Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. "
The primary aspect that came through to Isaiah was not that God was so powerful, but that God was so holy. He says: "I am a man of unclean lips... how could I come into the presence of the God of perfect holiness?" "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts " — the moral worth of God is found in the moral being of God.
Likewise, when the Lord Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 5, He taught us how we should learn to be like God:
Matthew 5: 43-48
- "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.'
- "But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you
- in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
- "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax-gatherers do the same?
- "And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
- "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect..."
The primary aspect has to do with moral and spiritual quality of character.
What we are called upon to be is to be like God in His moral and spiritual perfection. We are to work in that direction to become like Him, and this involves moral and spiritual development of a very, very high quality — learning to love our enemies, praying for those who persecute us — that we may be sons of our Father who is in heaven.
The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 5: 8
- "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God..."
If we want to see God, to know Him deeply, to relate with Him closely, then it has to do with the moral and spiritual state of our heart, the moral and spiritual quality of our being, because God is a God of moral and spiritual perfection.
So then, the moral worth of God is found in His moral being... so it is also true of us.
What God has done
However, the moral worth of God is also found in what He has done arising from the moral perfection of His being.
Revelation 4: 8-11 (NASB Updated Edition)
- And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME."
- And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,
- the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
- "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created."
The moral worth of God is also found in what He has done. The twenty-four elders said: "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created. "
What God has done has great value because they arise from His moral and spiritual perfection.
How then can we best appreciate God in the glory of His being in absolute and ultimate moral and spiritual worth?
The I AM of God
A very meaningful passage can be found in Exodus 3: 13-14.
Exodus 3: 13-14
- Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?"
- And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
Why did God refer to Himself as "I AM WHO I AM "?
This can also be translated as "I AM WHAT I AM " or "I AM THAT I AM " or "I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE ".
There are many meaningful aspects that we can appreciate from God's reply to Moses.
God called Moses to go to Egypt to deliver the people of Israel from slavery. Moses was hesitant, and when he asked God to tell him how to reply to the people of Israel if they were to ask, " What is His name? " God said: " I AM WHO I AM ".
God is referred to ultimately by His very being: the great I AM, the totality of His being. What He does or has done are manifestations of that being.
Ultimately, "I AM " is the best description of God, of who He is: the ultimate and eternal Self-existent Being in the totality of who He is, unlimited by time and space.
God is described in many ways in the Scriptures. A common reference to Him is: " the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ", but this does not totally describe Him. That is only one aspect of His being. Likewise, this is true of various other descriptions of God. In 1 John 4: 8, the apostle John says: " God is love ". In 1 John 1: 5, he says: " God is light... "
These are very meaningful descriptions of God, but again they do not tell us who God fully is.
" I AM " is the best description of who He is: the totality of His being — the great, the ultimate " I AM ".
Moral perfection in God
The primary aspect of true worth in God is the moral and spiritual quality of His being. If we appreciate this, we appreciate a very major aspect of who God is. This aspect of God is unchanging in the sense of moral perfection.
God is morally perfect: He has been and always will be.
In Malachi 3: 6, He tells us:
- "For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed..."
God does not change in His moral perfection. He is morally perfect for all time and for eternity.
We are not morally perfect like God. We often change. We are inconsistent. Sometimes we are kind, at other times we are not. Sometimes we are very helpful, at times we are very inconsiderate.
But God is always kind, and forever He will be kind. God is pure, and always will be pure.
God is morally and spiritually perfect... so too, the Lord Jesus.
Hebrews 13: 8 says:
- Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.
The Lord Jesus Christ manifests the glory of God in His moral perfection: "He who has seen Me has seen the Father ".
This quality of His being can manifest in many ways, and the way that God chooses to manifest the perfection of His being has very significant implications for all of us.
What God chooses to do, what He decides not to do, has great implications for us.
What God decides to do
What God chooses to do will affect Him in what He needs to do further, and what He will go through as a result.
So, in the totality of the being of God, while His moral perfection continues and is unchanging, what God decides to do will affect what He will need to do further, and what He will go through as a result.
For example, God chose to create human moral beings. Genesis chapter 1, verses 26 and 27 tell us how God decided to create man. God said: "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness... " and " God created man in His own image ".
When God decided to create man, it had significant implications for Him. He would need to make provisions for man, teach man, show man the way to live, and deal with man according to how he responds.
So too, God chose the path of the cross with all its pain and cost to Him, and as a result, He is therefore now called "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ".
When God chose the path of the cross, He chose all that went with it.
Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 and 4 put it this way:
Ephesians 1: 3-4
- Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
- just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him...
Because God chose the path of the cross to help man, He became " the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ".
Romans 8: 32 tells us how much it cost God to bring this about:
Romans 8: 32
- He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
The path of the cross meant that God could not spare His own Son. God provided the means of forgiveness, the path of new life, for sinful people like us, and therefore He delivered Him up for us all. It cost Him very greatly, but God was prepared to go through this because of the moral and spiritual perfection in His heart.
Relating in our totality
So then, when we relate with God, we relate with the totality of His being: the moral and spiritual character as well as all that He has done, all that He has gone through.
Yes, we may be more conscious of certain aspects of His being and some aspects of what He has done at different points of time, but we are in fact relating with God in His totality.
When we see the holiness of God, we must not forget that the love of God is present, as well as the wrath of God. When we appreciate and receive God's grace, we must not forget that God's justice continues. They are present simultaneously even though we may not fully appreciate that.
Likewise, when God relates with us, He also relates with the totality of our being — the moral character in our heart, and what we have gone through, and what we have done.
God is not just relating with our moral qualities. He is relating with us as a person — the totality of our being — and this includes all that we have gone through, and all that we have done.
The true worth in our lives is also dependent primarily on the moral and spiritual quality of our being: the degree of purity of heart in our moral character.
If we want to develop true worth, this has to be the primary aspect that we concentrate on: the moral quality of our heart... how pure are we in our heart?
True worth in us is to become like God in our hearts... to develop to be like Him in our moral character... to be like His moral character... to be transformed to be like Him... that Christ will be formed in us.
True worth results when the character of God is formed in us.
Arising from that, this will determine the value of what we do. The worth of our being includes what we do, and what we go through... how we go through.
But it is important for us to recognize that the value of what we do arises from the quality in our heart.
When our heart is pure, then what we do will have true worth.
If our heart is not pure, then all that we do will be worthless. We may do many things that seem to be good, but if our heart is not pure, then all that we do will be worthless.
Of course, there are different degrees.
The principle is the relationship: to the degree that our heart is pure, to that degree there will worth and meaning; to the degree that it is otherwise, it will be otherwise.
Whether we abide in the vine or we do not will determine the value of our lives: whether we will bear fruit or we will be cast away and burnt.
Fruitfulness
It is helpful for us to recognize two aspects of fruitfulness. God wants us to bear fruit, to develop quality. There are two aspects that we need to be conscious of.
The moral quality of our heart is one aspect.
The other aspect is the meaningful and helpful things that we do arising from this quality in our heart.
Galatians chapter 5, verses 22 and 23 tell us the importance of the moral quality of our heart:
Galatians 5: 22-23
- But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
- gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
The fruit of the Spirit in our lives — the development of moral and spiritual quality in our heart — this is the primary aspect that we should concentrate on.
However, as we grow in quality of our hearts, we also need to consider more specifically how we can bear fruit in the things that we do.
The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1: 11-13:
Romans 1: 11-13
- For I long to see you in order that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;
- that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine.
- And I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented thus far) in order that I might obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.
The apostle Paul wanted to obtain some fruit amongst the people in Rome. The meaning here is that he wanted to contribute something meaningful to their lives. This would be fruit in terms of what the apostle Paul would do.
So these two aspects of fruitfulness are important: what we are in our heart, and what we do in our lives arising from the quality in our hearts.
God relates with the totality of our being, including all that we have gone through, and all that we have done. When God relates with us, He relates with us in the totality of what we are.
Unique and precious
In this sense, each one of us is unique. No two persons are the same with regard to the totality of our being.
We derive our uniqueness from God. He has created each one of us separately, and distinct from one another, although there are many aspects of similarity, especially in terms of our moral and spiritual potential. All of us have that potential to develop to be like God in moral and spiritual meaning and worth, but we are different.
We are not self-existent, nor eternal, on our own. We are created beings, but we can develop and grow in the uniqueness and moral quality of our being throughout eternity if we respond well.
These two aspects of moral quality and uniqueness correspond with two aspects of the will of God for our lives: the general and the specific will of God for each one of us.
In the general will of God, God wants every one of us to be pure in heart. This is the same for every one. We are to develop quality in our being — of the highest level — to be like God.
But the specific will for each one of us is personal and unique. God does not have the same specific will for two persons.
It is important for us to recognize the difference between the two.
We must all strive to fulfil the general will of God to be pure in our heart. It is then that we will have true worth in our being.
But as we do that, we must be conscious to keep close to God, to seek to understand His specific will for our lives: How does He want us to live our lives?... To live it well, because that is meant only for us, personally and uniquely.
When we develop true worth of great quality, each one of us will become uniquely precious to God, and we will develop a special meaningful relationship with Him, similar to, and yet distinct from, all others who develop well. When we develop well, each one of us will be unique and special to God... precious to Him.
Even when others develop well, they will not be the same as us.
So, in this sense, no one else can ever replace us, nor can we replace others, because we are unique, and will always be unique.
However, this uniqueness is of true worth only if we develop moral and spiritual purity of heart. If we do not develop that, then our uniqueness will have no moral value.
We can therefore say that we can properly expect one another to be pure in our hearts, but we cannot properly expect all to be the same in the specific manifestation of that purity of heart.
It is right that we should expect, encourage, exhort one another to be pure in our hearts — all of us must do that.
But we must be careful that we do not expect all to be the same in the specific manifestation of that purity of heart. There are many different ways of manifestation of that quality, and God will teach us what is appropriate for us.
We must not try to be like other people, but to be what God wants us to be. In our uniqueness, we can contribute something meaningful in the kingdom of God, but we must make sure that it arises from true purity of heart.
We must not give that as an excuse to do the things we like, and the things that are wrong. We must ensure the moral meaning in our heart... that it is good... but the manifestation of that meaning can be very different for different individuals.
The "I am" in us
So God is the absolute and ultimate and eternal Self-existent " I AM ". It is meaningful for us to consider that the totality of our being can also be described by "I am " in the sense of " what I am " or "who I am ", but as finite human beings created by God, who can benefit from the grace of God.
We are not "I am " in the same sense as for God. He is the Self-existent, sovereign, all-glorious, perfect God.
But God has created us with an identity as each individual, and we can meaningfully say, " I am what I am "... in the proper context... in the proper spirit.
Therefore we can see the apostle Paul meaningfully testifying in 1 Corinthians 15: 9-10
1 Corinthians 15: 9-10
- For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
- But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.
The apostle Paul was referring primarily to the moral and spiritual transformation in his moral being, to become a person of true worth.
He was deeply appreciative of what God had done in his heart to help him to change from a persecutor of the church to become one who was identified with God in His heart and purposes.
The primary aspect was the moral and spiritual transformation: from a life in the flesh to a life in the Spirit, from seeking his own ideas and his own ways, to following God and being a person of moral and spiritual worth.
However, the apostle Paul was also referring to God's calling for his life as an apostle to the Gentiles, and he was grateful to God for every aspect of life that he had gone through as a result of God's grace towards him.
The apostle Paul laboured very hard to develop his life, to be what he ought to be. And he could therefore say: "... by the grace of God I am what I am " — the totality of Paul, all that he was. He could recognize the grace of God helping him, and he laboured hard in the context of the grace of God.
The prophet Daniel also developed true worth of a very high quality, and he became very precious to God. How did he do that?
At the heart of it, we can see that his true worth before God arose from the moral and spiritual quality of his being, and this was manifested in the way he lived his life in the setting of his time, in a spirit of fellowship with God and faithfulness to Him.
The book of Daniel describes very meaningful responses from God to Daniel. God specifically sent a message to Daniel, and He used the same phrase three times. He communicated this through His messenger, likely an angel, and in the midst of seeking to tell Daniel about various things, he addressed Daniel in this way.
Daniel 9: 20-23 tells us the incident where Daniel was praying, and he said: ...then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. And he gave me instruction and talked with me, and said, 'O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.'
God sent Gabriel to speak to Daniel, and he said: "you are highly esteemed ".
This implies that this is God's opinion of Daniel: " you are highly esteemed ". True worth was found in Daniel — he was highly esteemed by God. This phrase, " you are highly esteemed ", can also be translated as "you are greatly beloved" or "you are precious".
God valued Daniel highly. Daniel was precious to God. He was greatly beloved of God.
We see the same word used in Daniel 10: 10-11. Again, he is called "man of high esteem ".
This is repeated in Daniel 10: 18-19, where again he is referred to as "man of high esteem ". God said it three times in the record in the Scriptures because Daniel was exceptional in the quality of his being.
What was so important in Daniel? What was so precious in him? What was so meaningful to God?
Daniel 6: 4 tells us that when the enemies of Daniel sought to accuse him, they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him.
It was moral and spiritual quality of his heart and his life that was characteristic of Daniel.
It began long ago. Daniel chapter 6 is already a description of Daniel at a later stage of his life. But Daniel chapter 1 tells us that early in his life, as a youth, he had already set his heart: Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself...
" Made up his mind " can also be translated as "set upon his heart " or "purposed in his heart ". Daniel had decided steadfastly to be true to God: he would not defile himself... he would remain faithful to God.
Comparison with others
One of the most powerful forces at work in this world is the comparison with other people, to see who is greater in importance, power, ability, and overall quality.
However, let us bear in mind that ultimately our true worth is not measured by our comparison with others, but by the moral and spiritual substance in our being, our inner man. It is measured by the absolute values of moral goodness, and by the perfection in the being of God.
It is foolish for us to compare with others. We need to concentrate on developing moral and spiritual substance in our being, measured by the absolute values of moral goodness, considering the moral and spiritual perfection in the being of God.
In contrast, being a worthless man has to do with moral and spiritual corruption.
Proverbs 6: 12-14 tells us what is a worthless person: He is a wicked man, with perversity in his heart, and he devises evil continually — that is a worthless person.
Jeremiah 13: 1-11 tells us God's description of what is worthless. He says: Like a waistband that is meant to cling to a man, so God called Israel to cling to Him, but they did not. If the waistband were put by the river, it will become worthless, it will be destroyed... so too, the people of Israel, described as "This wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts... " They became totally worthless. They did not listen to God.
So too for all of us: worthlessness arises from going our own way, not keeping close to God, not following His instructions... it is associated with following the evil one and the ways of the world, and it results in moral corruption of the heart.
So then let us appreciate that God loves us in the totality of our being as a person. He loves us personally and individually as well as corporately as His people.
As individuals, we are precious to Him as distinct and unique individuals, not just in terms of our potential of what we can develop to become, but also what we are now in the midst of our weaknesses and struggles.
We may think that if we have not yet developed to a very high quality, we will not be precious to God. That is not true.
Critical requirement
What is critical is that we develop a humble and contrite spirit, and we must be prepared to give ourselves fully to Him, to be what we ought to be. Otherwise, God cannot be meaningfully close to us.
In Isaiah 57: 15, God tells us that while He is holy, He dwells with the contrite and lowly of spirit. God is pleased to dwell with us if we are prepared to learn, if we are prepared to repent, to change our ways.
In the midst of our failures, God will continue to be with us, to teach us, and help us to learn and grow if we remain humble and contrite.
God the Gardener
God is like a Gardener who plants trees that will bear good fruit. In Isaiah 61: 1-3, God tells us how He seeks to help the people of Israel to become good. And this is a passage quoted by the Lord Jesus when He came to proclaim the gospel, which is meant, not just for the people of Israel, but for all of us.
When we respond well to God, then this statement will apply to us: " They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified." When we respond well to God, we develop to become oaks of righteousness, strong, reliable, enduring... because of righteousness.
Psalms 1: 1-3 tells us the blessedness of the one who lives righteously.
And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season... whatever he does, he prospers. We become fruitful when we delight in the law of the LORD, when we walk in His ways.
We see therefore, that the primary aspect of the measurement of our worth is the moral and spiritual quality of our being — the degree of the purity of our heart. This is the primary aspect of the meaning of " what I am " — Blessed are the pure in heart.
In addition to that, the specific uniqueness in each one of us is a very meaningful aspect of the worth of our being — the totality of the being of each one of us.
Therefore we see that Moses, Job, Daniel, and Paul are distinct and unique beings.
Even if their moral and spiritual qualities were similar, they would still be unique individuals in the totality of their beings. Even if they develop to be similar in terms of the level of quality of moral and spiritual beauty, they would still be unique individuals.
When the apostle Paul says, "what I am ", it would be different from Daniel saying the same words.
We should therefore not seek to be someone else, but seek to be the person that God wants us to be: in terms of the purity of our heart, and the specific aspects of our life.
We need not be afraid of what others may say of us or do to us. This does not affect the worth of our being.
What we should be afraid of is our own poor response to God in His calling to us to develop true worth in our being.
We must take great care of who we are, or what we are — the totality of our being.
Summary
In summary then, what we have considered in these nine messages of "What am I worth?" include various of the following aspects that can help us to understand how we should develop:
- It is very easy for us to be affected and hurt by what others say or do. In such a situation, we may seek to please others, and we may be glad when we are praised
- Yet, deep in our hearts, we will not be deeply satisfied, we will not be at peace
- We may then learn that we have been much affected by the spirit of the world and its ways, even in our pursuit of the things of God
- We need therefore to reject the world, and listen to God, and live by His word — every word that proceeds from the mouth of God
- If we love God sincerely and deeply, we can be confident in God's goodness, and rest in His sovereign undertaking, whatever the situation may be, however difficult or painful — God loves us; He will take care of us; He will be with us, if we truly and deeply love Him
- We must learn from the Lord Jesus, our Perfect Example: look at His life, behold Him, appreciate Him, and learn to drink the cup and go through the baptism, in a spirit of self-giving love and humility
- We learn to receive life from Him, and we learn to impart life to others
- This path is very difficult: we must be determined to change from old ways to new ways
- In this development, we must depend on God for His enabling and His life
- We have to learn to walk by the Spirit, to live by meaning and not by feeling
- Ultimately, we must concentrate on where true worth resides: in our inner man, in our moral and spiritual being, and then all that we do arising from that — what I am, the totality of our being
- Develop that well, and we can be restful, confident, and peaceful in God
Song
To help us remember and ponder over the major issues of these nine messages on "What am I worth?" I will sing you a song entitled "What am I worth?"
Do seek to identify with the meaning and the spiritual reality of how we can develop true worth in our being. This song is communicated as a conversation between two persons.
What others say, they hurt me so!
What am I worth? I want to know!
I strive to please; they praise me so!
What am I worth? How do I know?
I long to be what I should be!
How can I be what I should be?
Give up this world and what it says...
Hear what He says and change your ways!
If you love God each step you take...
He is the Lord: He'll undertake!
Seek what is good... so come to Him!
Behold His life... and learn from Him!
Drink of His cup... baptized like Him...
Partaking Him... imparting Him!
Walk by the Spirit and be free...
Then you will be: A fruitful tree!
So live by meaning then you'll see:
That you will be what you should be!
"Seek what is good": I come to Him!
Be what I should: I live in Him!
I must take care of what I am:
What I am worth is what I am!