Recently, I had a conversation with a friend about our value as human beings. In this conversation he pointed out that as a collector of various items, value is subjective to the buyer or collector.
According to Business Dictionary, product value is “an assessment of the worth of a good or service.” So who determines the worth of a product? The market? The manufacturer?
“I won’t consider buying or collecting a product if it isn’t valuable or meaningful to me,” he said. He explained that ultimately the buyer determines the value of a product.
Many things in this world fight to determine our value. For example, if we have the right house, a certain amount of friends, or the “perfect” body, then we will be valuable to those around us. Of course we may not outwardly express this notion, but the way we treat ourselves does express it.
In the past I worked two jobs, volunteered with three organizations, had a boyfriend, and was a full-time student. I didn’t understand the word “no” and I thought that meant I was doing it right. I felt like a valuable human being, because of me. So when many of those things ceased in my life or changed shape, I lost that feeling of value.
I have now realized that my value doesn't come from me. I’m a “collectable”. I don’t have the power to determine my value. The buyer determines that.
“For you were bought with a price.”
1 Corinthians 6:20a
We were bought with a price by our own Creator and he didn’t pay with any currency we could return. He paid with the death of His only, perfect, and blameless son (John 3:16).
God’s assessment of our worth must have been pretty high if he was to pay such a price. He created us after all, and sent His son as the atoning sacrifice (Rom 3:25), so rather than attempting to find our worth in the standards set by ourselves and this world, it makes sense that we find the appraisal of our value in Him.
Jenna Coombs
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