You are Valuable

I will never forget the biggest challenge Theresa and I had to overcome in the first few years of our marriage.

Despite her sharp mind, good looks, and many friends who would tell her otherwise, Theresa felt unworthy, unimportant, and a failure.

No matter how many compliments I gave her or how kindly I treated her, my words and actions bounced off of her like light beams off a mirror.

I saw a kind, beautiful, godly woman that I was head-over-heels in love with; but when Theresa looked in the mirror, she saw an unworthy, unlovable woman who never “measured up.”

It was a long, and at times, painful journey in which we both desperately needed to learn to see ourselves as “newly created in Christ ‘’ rather than through the brokenness of our background. Her challenge was to overcome rejection and a sense of worthlessness. Mine was to stop trying to prove my value and worthiness by my overachieving and workaholic performance.

Through some excellent biblical marriage counseling and a steady diet of God’s Word, the Holy Spirit began to give us “glimpses” of how God sees us. Our counselor helped us see that despite our new lives in Christ, we had been so indoctrinated by the world’s value system that we still believed:

SELF WORTH = Performance + Others’ Opinions

We, like most people, had been taught that success, education, money, looks, possessions, popularity, reputation, and achievement determined our value, our worthiness, and our significance. Although we intellectually believed that God loved us unconditionally; our hearts and minds were so filled with misbeliefs that we struggled to get that truth from our heads into our hearts. Maybe you can relate?

As we intentionally “identified these lies” and “replaced them with the truth,” God slowly began to work in some wonderful and transforming ways. I specifically remember God speaking to me through a verse that helped take the truth that God valued me totally apart from my performance to a concrete concept Theresa and I could wrap our arms and head around.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
– 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NASB)

It was the phrase “you were bought with a price” that took me from wishful thinking to a logical reality. I remember thinking, “Theresa may not think she is worth much, but God thinks she is worth the ultimate price He could pay to redeem her—the very death of His Son. I may not think I’m worth much unless I excel in every area of my life, but God thought I was worth the death of His Son, the purchase price to redeem me.”

It hit me! We all measure value by what something costs. A car that’s $90,000 is worth a lot more than one that costs $9,000. Jesus’ life, that of infinite value, was the purchase price to redeem us from the slave market of sin and deliver us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.

Little by little, these theological truths were translated in our hearts to practical, warm, encouraging, life-giving words. We are wanted (chosen), we are precious, valuable, significant (redeemed) by a God who loves us, longs for us, wants to bless us, and wants to enjoy every moment of every day with us.

The truths* we reviewed together each morning began to re-educate our minds, renew our thinking, and flow into that sacred space where real-life change occurs—our hearts!

And my desire for you (and those you love) is that you would move beyond just “intellectually agreeing” that God loves and values you to “powerfully experiencing” His love and seeing yourself the way He sees you.

The battle for the affections of our hearts is in our minds. Prayerfully renewing your mind and guarding your heart is God’s path of grace to discover your true self as His deeply loved child. In this month’s Coffee Break recording I specifically teach how that process works and how you can apply it in your life today.

This is one of those Coffee Breaks you may want to pass on to someone who struggles with a low self-image or who is caught in the performance trap of proving their worth. We’ve passed it on via email (if we have yours) to make it easier for you to share.

Finally, please continue to pray for us. I’ve had to delay my teaching trip to China this month because of the Coronavirus, please pray for our partners and all those affected by this outbreak. Also, please pray for wisdom for us as the growing response to God’s work through Living on the Edge means adding new staff.

Ask God to protect us, provide the finances necessary and to give us a BOLD FAITH to “Help Christians live like Christians everyday, in every way, everywhere for the glory of God and the good of all mankind.”

In Christ,

Chip Ingram
CEO & Teaching Pastor, Living on the Edge

P.S. – *Theresa’s journey and teaching series, Precious in His Sight recounts the truths we reviewed that changed our lives. Download mp3s at LivingontheEdge.org/Precious.