Measuring Worth by Vicki Hinze (in for Hannah Alexander)

Due to a death in the family, Hannah Alexander is unable to post. All of us at Christians Read offer our prayers for comfort and peace to Hannah and her family.

I’m filling in for Hannah today, and while I’m not gifted with her wit and charm, I do hope you’ll find something useful to you in this post.

This morning on Facebook, there was an ad on my vicki.hinze.author page. It read: FIND OUT YOUR WORTH and offered a free calculator as a gift for doing so.

It struck me as hilarious. Imagine. Measuring the worth of a human being in such a simplistic and silly manner. But the more I pondered on it, the sadder I became. And I soon found myself ashamed for finding humor in something so twisted. If this is an indicator of how we view and measure ourselves, well, is it any wonder so many are confused and depressed and stay torn up inside?

Oh, we all know that in our current culture “net worth” is often measured by dollars and success is defined by money, position and/or power. I admit that I’ve never understood that. I know too many wealthy people who are miserable, used by others and lost. Just hopelessly lost and struggling to find some meaning in their lives. I know too many in positions of power that spend all their time worrying about keeping it, getting more of it, and fearing every other person in the world is manipulating them trying to steal it. What kind of power is that… really? You don’t often see contentment or peace at the top of their lists as what they have, but you do hear a lot about them wanting both and fearing they’ll never know it.

There are exceptions of course. Those who think they’re above the rules and corruption doesn’t apply to them because of their special status. Imagine the sad day that they realize they are accountable and in that accounting, there is no spin, no excuse, no bloviating, no ducking or running. Comeuppance doesn’t discriminate. We reap what we sow and we are accountable for every thought, word, action or deed—and yes, inaction is an action.

Earlier, I’d see something like this and just chuckle and mumble, “Lord, give them a clue.”

That didn’t happen this morning. I looked at this through God’s eyes. After all, He created us each and every one and loves us all equally. And what flooded me was a deep and intense sadness. His child hurting, His child clueless. His child missing the point of a personalized life mission and purpose, of a personalized, handcrafted, molded mission that is evidence of each individual’s unique position and power and success. Those things are infused in each of us by the very hand of God. No two are exactly the same, and no other individual in the world can fulfill an indivudual’s specific purpose aside from the individual for whom it was crafted.

We are all special. We are all powerful. We are all incalculably worthy.

Worth can’t be measured in money or numbers any more than the measure of a man can be taken by his words. The true measure of a man is evident in his actions. That reveals what’s in his heart.

And that’s what I saw today in these deeper thoughts, viewing through my imagined perspective from God’s eyes. And through that prism, I saw the pain He feels at our missing the significance of our purpose and our worth. I saw the tragedy in the culture and the people who populate it in its kind of measures. The hollowness of it all.

And so I’m moved today to remind you that you have a specific mission and you were created precisely as you are to fulfill it. You have all the traits, all the abilities and skills required, or the ability to attain them, to fulfill this mission. You have the wisdom and strength needed to exercise the judgement necessary to do the right thing for the right reason at the right time for the right person.

You see, our culture tells us we don’t change the world. But it’s wrong. We do. When we impact one person in one small way, that person changes, and because s/he has, s/he will impact and change another who will change another and so on and so on. The ripple keeps going.

That’s powerful—and often these seemingly insignificant situations are missed. We diminish the value of them because we don’t recognize the value of them.

But if we pause just for a moment, we can position ourselves to see these things as God does—and to Him, I sincerely doubt any are insignificant.

What is the value of:

A kind word to someone lonely who hasn’t had human contact for a time?

A “well done” to a child who only hears what a rotten kid s/he is?

A smile to someone who has no one to smile at them?

A sincere “How are you today?” from someone who actually wants to know and listens to the response.

Mowing the neighbor’s yard because s/he has no mower or it’s in the shop?

Offering a worker a sealed bottle of water or something to drink?

Little kindnesses like these are said to cost us nothing. That isn’t true. They are treasures and cost us deeply. They cost us something money can’t buy, no position or power can give. They cost us a precious commodity we can’t bargain or extend. They cost us our time.

Each sliver or segment is of the greatest value to us. So when we share it, we’re giving our best. We should realize that. And so too should those with whom we share.

Measuring worth. It’s like measuring time in a way, isn’t it? Not in minutes or hours or years, but in moments. Some are tender, touching, compassionate. Some are sad, grief-stricken, shattering. Some are joyful, elating, swell your heart until it feels too big for your chest. But each is precious.

And the reason each moment is precious and it matters is because we know its worth. What a gift it would be if in our culture we’d discover our own.

Blessings,

Vicki

————————————-

Latest Release: NOT THIS TIME