Worthiness is a big topic. Some say your worthiness is rooted in your character or behavior. That means you’re not worthy until you earn it.
Others say your worthiness is based on your accomplishments and the accolades of others. That means you’re not worthy unless someone else says you are.
And there are those who say you’re worthy when you decide you are. That means you magically have the power all by yourself to make those nasty feelings of unworthiness go away.
I say they’re all wrong.
You are worthy now and I’ll show you why.
WHY THEY’RE WRONG
If you’re worthy because of your behavior, that means your worthiness must measure up to perfection or whatever invisible measuring stick there is. Both are not possible. No one is perfect and you can’t measure the invisible.
They – have no worthiness for you.
If you’re worthy because of accomplishments or the accolades of others, that means your worthiness is at the mercy of other people’s opinions. There is no power or stability in this. People are fickle.
They – have no worthiness for you.
If you’re worthy simply because you decide you are, that means you can change your mind again when you feel differently making your worthiness conditional and unreliable.
They – have no worthiness for you.
I say your worthiness comes from something else and cannot be taken away.
Who gets to decide if you have value and importance? Click To Tweet
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE WORTHY
The root of the word worthy is worth.
To have worth is to have value.
When something is worthy it has importance.
This means that for you to be worthy you must have value and importance.
Who gets to decide if you have value and importance?
WHO SAYS YOU’RE NOT WORTHY?
We tell ourselves we’re not worthy. Our inner perception of unworthiness comes from various places. For example:
- Listening to the they’s listed above. They have no worthiness to offer so when we come up short, we deem ourselves unworthy.
- Side effects of abuse. When bullies, siblings, parents, teachers, bosses, or whoever belittle us with demeaning words it’s emotional and verbal abuse. Toxic words, sometimes compiled with violent actions, are traumatic and strip us of our sense of value and we deem ourselves unworthy.
- Oppressive religion. This says humans are despicable sinners unworthy of anything good. That God is mad at us and we should get our act together so that maybe, just maybe we can earn God’s favor. This means we need to make ourselves worthy. Problem is, that’s a lie because you’re back to the third they listed above and they have no worthiness for you.
When we say we’re not worthy, it’s because we’re listening to lies. I’ve done it. But I don’t believe the lies anymore.
I believe someone else now.
You are worthy because God says so. Click To Tweet
SOMEONE SAYS YOU ARE WORTHY
Although many voices scream at us that we’re unworthy there is someone else who disagrees. Someone that doesn’t scream. Someone that gently whispers value and importance into the core of our being. Someone who deemed us worthy before we took a breath. In fact, He’s the one who gave us that breath.
The Almighty God who created us in His image and likeness has deemed us worthy. Jesus proved it by demonstrating love when we were His enemies.
Jesus came and carried out the plan prepared from the beginning of time because God deemed us valuable and important. He deemed us worthy of redemption, worthy of adoption, worthy of reconciliation, worthy of the blood of His Son Jesus, and worthy to be born of His Holy Spirit of Grace.
Because of what God has done, you were born worthy and nothing can change that. You can only accept it or reject it.
You are worthy because God says so. Do you agree?
WHAT NEXT
Who do you want to define your worth?
- The voice of they?
- The voice of abuse?
- The voice of oppressive religion?
- The voice of the one who loves you and desires to empower you through connection?
I CHALLENGE YOU to start seeing your value and loving yourself. GO HERE.
Jesus said: I am the sprouting vine and you’re my branches. As you live in union with me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you—but when you live separated from me you are powerless. – John 15:5 TPT
Listen to this song and let your soul feel it’s worth!
You say by Lauren Daigle
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I love this post. It’s a huge transformation in your life when you find your worth in God and not people. After all, if God holds you in high regard what does it matter what they say/think?
The big challenge is believing this in your heart. That’s what transforms us. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome, Belinda.
I couldn’t agree more. I know you’ve read my story of how I came to this revelation of my value. That “I matter!” because God says so. How I was healed of oppressive religion. It has made a difference I’ll spend the rest of my like talking about and writing about because you’re right – it’s a challenge to actually believe it deep in our souls. We can hear it and nod in agreement, but when life throws us down, what rises up in our soul?
When we know God is for us, no one of any consequence can be against us.
Thank you for sharing also!
Danielle,
Therein lies our worth: what God has done for us through the life and death of Christ—having suffered as a fellow human to bring us this freedom.
Thanks for sharing
You’re welcome, Daniel.
Thank you for reading and commenting!
Thanks for the encouragement today Danielle! I needed to read this today! For many years I struggled with not feeling worthy for the reasons you note here… and now I no longer believe those anymore either!
So true…(When we say we’re not worthy, it’s because we’re listening to lies. I’ve done it. But I don’t believe the lies anymore.I believe someone else now… and follow it with “You are worthy because God says so.”)
You’re welcome, Cori. We need to be reminded. Those lies are insidious and try to creep in from time to time. We need to stand guard and refuse them as soon as we recognize them. So glad I could encourage you. You’re so encouraging to me and I appreciate you.
Thanks for sharing!
Such an important reminder. All too often, I define my worth by the approval of others and external accomplishments. But like you say, approval is fickle, and my accomplishments should not define me.
Thank you, Kate.
You’re not alone. We all need the reminder because it’s so easy to forget, and approval feels so good when we do get it.
Your last, religious argument is faulty. You STILL believe something outside of yourself, which you cannot prove (you wasn’t there, you haven’t met God, etc.).
The one and only choice is “I am worthy because I choose to be”, and clearing the road to it psychologically. It is only your OWN decision over which you have total control.
Thank you for your comment Louis. I see what you’re saying and I agree that we have to take ownership of our worthiness.
God has deemed us worthy but if we don’t take ownership of it, we don’t reap the benefits of it. Just like if someone was hired into a job but didn’t show up for work, they wouldn’t reap the benefits of the job even thought it was theirs for the taking.
I disagree on the idea of who is worthy with the first example: have to earn character and value. I am considering who should get my inheritance. Danielle you mention with character and value then it has to be earned, which involves a standard. I have decided to leave my small inheritance to my step-daughter, who I raised and not my nephews. Why ? My nephews have inherited a large amount of money from their deceased parents so they don ‘t NEED it. They actually think they are entitled to my $$. Behavior applies too , they are greedy. My step daughter will not inherit anything from anyone but me, so there is NEED on her part. Her character and behavior are to be admired. She wants me to leave everything to charity, always thinking of others. She is 41 yrs. old , a recovering alcoholic, small savings with a hard life in ways. I want her to have a secure future . BF
Thank you for reading and sharing your heart with me. The worthiness I am talking about in this article is referring to the reader, which would be you. You are worthy, you have value, in reference to who you say has the power to call you worthy. This is inherent worth as a human that I’m addressing, or self-esteem.
It sounds like the worthiness you’re dealing with is quite different. I see that your nephews have worth and value, but you have the right to decide who is worthy to receive your inheritance because it’s yours. I think it’s wonderful that you plan on leaving it to your step-daughter. It sounds like you love her dearly and you have a great relationship. I’m happy for you.
Thank you again for sharing.