What I Want My Students to Know More Than Anything Else

A universal human question that all of us ask throughout our lives, but particularly when we are in the thick of growing up, is “Do I matter?”  It’s a loaded question, one with many parts.  Underneath that three-word question sit many other questions: Do my thoughts matter?  My ideas?  My emotions?  My frustrations?  My fears?  My future?  The list could go on.  At the center of all those questions and concerns is the idea of value.  Another way of asking “Do I matter?” is to ask “Am I valuable?”

The value of an item can be set by the amount someone is willing to pay for it.  I am a terrible artist, so there is no one who is going to pay money for one of my drawings.  My art is going to have a very low value seeing that no one…not even my mom…would be willing to pay something for it.  Just last week, however, a Picasso painting went for 142 million dollars.  The value of his work is extremely high, and the price someone was willing to pay for it reflects that value.

Talking about Picasso brings up another method by which the value of something can be set.  We set the value of something based on the name associated with it.  For example, I would love to own a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes one day.   Are Manolo Blahnik shoes any different than regular shoes?  Not really.  Can a Manolo shoe owner leap tall buildings in a single bound and solve world hunger?  Sure can’t.  Is there really anything unique or special about Manolo Blahnik shoes outside of the name?  Nope.  The name makes them special, and the name gives them value.

Finally, value can be set based on context.  If you think about the last example I used---the Manolo Blahnik shoes---it would be safe to say that a non-shoe-lover wouldn’t place the same value that I do on a pair of Manolos because they just…don’t…care…about…shoes.  The context affects the value.  Looking at it another way, my 1993 Ford Tempo was a boss ride when I was 16 years old.  I loved that car, and it had a high value to me because it was my first car and because I didn’t have the ability to buy anything else.   Not everyone would have seen that car as special, but I did.  My life’s context made the value of that car very high, even though it might not have had a high value to anyone else.

So far, I’ve only talked about how the value of items is determined.  What about people?  How do we answer that original question---“Do I matter?”  If you ask the world, our value is dependent on what we have accomplished, what talents we have, what we look like, who we know, or how much power we have.  Our value goes up and down based on how successful we are at life---whatever that means.  We come to believe that we are less valuable if we are unable to live up to the impossible standard that our world has created or that we have created for ourselves.  I’ve been there, and it’s a terrible place to be.  You feel inadequate all the time and like no matter what you’re doing, nothing is working.  Eventually, you assume that no matter how hard you try, you will never be good enough and that you’re just a giant failure.  What I’ve learned as I’ve struggled with these ideas and feelings is this: my value is not dependent on anything that I do or don’t do.  My value was decided 2000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross.  Let me flip that sentence around.  Your value is not dependent on anything that you do or don’t do.  Your value was decided 2000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross.  That value does not and cannot change, no matter what happens in your life.  You cannot add to it or take away from it.  It’s a done deal.

If that sounds too easy, let me break it down a little more.  Those same factors that I listed earlier that determine the value of items also can be used to understand your value in Christ.  First---the price paid.  A person who pays for something knows the value and sets the value.  Jesus paid for you with His own life.  Even more than that, He CHOSE to pay that price.  And when He said, “It is finished”, He made that price permanent.  Your value does not and cannot change.  Second---the name attached.  When were you baptized, you were baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  And Paul wrote in Romans that “all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death.”  Christ’s death is what set your value, and in your baptism, God confirmed that value by giving you His name and making you a part of His family.  Your value does not and cannot change.  Third---the context.  Here’s the Truth-with-a-capital-T: NOTHING can separate you from the love of God.  Paul also wrote in Romans, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any power, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  The love of God in Christ Jesus is God sending His Son to die.  Jesus’ act on the cross is what set your value.  What God is telling us through Paul is that NOTHING can come between you and that value, and NOTHING can ever change it.  Your value does not and cannot change.

There will be many times in life when you will be tempted to question your value.  Satan will use that question---“Do I matter?”---to lead you into believing that you don’t.  When that happens, ask God to help you remember what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians: “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ…was not ‘Yes’ and ‘No’, but in Him it has always been ‘Yes.’  For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ.”

So, do you matter?  Yes.  A thousand times…Yes.  No matter what you do or don’t do…Yes.  No matter what the future brings…Yes.  No matter who you become or don’t become…Yes.  Because of Christ…Yes.