QUESTIONING YOUR WORTH? (READ THIS NOW)

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Have you been questioning your worth? Have you had moments where you felt worthless, maybe based on societal standards? Maybe you’ve been questioning your worth lately and have almost felt like giving up. So here I am today with a word for you.

- The Samaritan woman

Lessons from the Samaritan Woman to Help you If You Are Questioning Your Worth.
Jesus will leave the 99 for you.
- - Jesus wants to redeem you
- When you feel like questioning your worth remember, that Jesus will never look down on you.
Conclusion

But before we do I want us to remember some key points. Sometimes the societal standards view of value can cause one to feel inadequate. Some people have experienced discrimination based on their skin color, background, education status, titles, profession, and religion. Because of the discrimination, it is easy for one to feel less than and disqualify themselves. Society has caused people to disqualify themselves if they do not meet certain criteria and thus end up undervaluing themselves.

We live in a world where people are always striving to reach that peak where finally they can get recognized. This leads to a lot of mess-ups in an attempt to fit in and be part of the status quo. The world judges harshly and, as such, there is no room for error. No wonder the rise of the cancel culture.

Unfortunately, those who never get to fit in cancel themselves out and live their lives as second-class citizens and outcasts. Survival mode becomes their way of life and they always hide from the world. But beloved, that is not the case with our God. He does not need you to qualify for Him to accept you. He does not have a threshold you have to meet for you to find value in Him. Your value in Him is based on your position in Him and not on your qualifications or lack thereof.

And to help us understand this more, let’s look at the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4.

The Samaritan woman

Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— although, in fact, it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.

The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
John 4:1‭-‬26 NIV

In John 4, we see an example of such a person. There was this Samaritan woman who had gone to fetch water at midday. First off it was uncommon for women to fetch water at midday. They would do so early in the morning or in the evening. This alone just goes to show you how she had lowered herself to a second-class citizen. She must have gotten to the point where she did not care about herself as much. Second, she had been married 5 times and was living with a man to whom she wasn’t married. Last, she was a Samaritan, not a jew.

The Jews looked the Samaritans down. And there was never interaction between the two groups. These 3 things definitely disqualified her as one Jesus would interact with. And to top it all up, she was a woman. Now in the earlier days, Jews looked down on a woman so much so that women could not even read the Torah. It is believed that there were even prayers that men would make thanking God for not being born a woman. So this woman had all the factors that would disqualify her completely.

But in verse 1 we see Jesus taking a detour to go through Samaria and it’s because of her.

Jesus, the Son of God took a detour for a woman who, according to societal standards, did not deserve it. She failed the test as per society, but Jesus found the time for her.

Jesus did not care that she had been married 4+ times. He wanted to set her free and make time for her. How beautiful this scene is. This is the perfect depiction of the heart of Jesus.

Lessons from the Samaritan Woman to Help you If You Are Questioning Your Worth.

Jesus will leave the 99 for you.

Jesus did not come to save the perfect ones, He came for those the sinners. We see in scripture Him eating with the tax collectors. He said that He came to save the lost, the weary, the broken, and the misfits. He wants to give you purpose and a second chance at life. Jesus wants to rid you of all the labels given to you by human beings and give you a purpose and a future (Jer 29:11).

Every time you find yourself questioning your worth, I want you to remember that Jesus will leave the 99 for you. This goes to show that you matter so much to Him. He is personal and very intentional. Every story written in the Bible is to help us understand the heart of God. Jesus knows the very details of your life. And He would never care to know everything about you if you were not important.

You are valuable, and He knows every detail of your life. He intricately wove you together as you were being formed in the womb. God knows even the number of hairs on your head. Imagine that. Why, then are you questioning your worth? The King of kings knows everything about you and is interested in every detail of your life.

Jesus wants to redeem you

He stopped on the way to heal the woman with the issue of blood. He acknowledged her and validated her by calling her daughter. For 12 years she had been known as the woman with the issue of blood but Jesus redeemed her. Have people counted you out Maybe people have given you bad labels? Have you allowed other people’s definitions of you to define you? Do you feel you have messed up and gone too far away?

There is hope for you. Jesus already paid the price for you and there is no mountain too high or ocean too deep that He can’t find you. His overwhelming love for you will run after you until He finds you. Jesus will leave the 99 just to come for you. He loves you so much and wants to set you free from all the shame and guilt. Fortunately, there is no cancel culture in Jesus, only redemption and that is He. Your redeemer lives and He is beckoning.

Jesus always has time for you and although we do not realize it, He is willing to stop everything just for you. Give Him that chance as He asks for your attention. He wants to do it for you.

You don’t have to be defined by the labels placed on you. Do you know that you can reinvent yourself even today? You don’t have to stay a minute longer the same way you have always been. Make a choice and start over.

Ask God to tell you who you are. He is the only one who can define you. Allow Him to Redeem you. He paid the price already. Give Him the chance and watch Him restore you. He will give you beauty for your ashes and He will give you a sense of identity and belonging. And when He does so you will never feel like questioning your worth again.

When you feel like questioning your worth remember, that Jesus will never look down on you.

You might have people around you who look down on you. But God wants you to know that He will never do so. God values you and He calls you a royal priesthood. Again, you are His masterpiece, because He is the one who created you.

When people look down on you, it is easy to begin questioning your worth. But in such times, you should turn your eyes to Jesus. He promises that when you do He will heal your heart, redeem you, and give you a future that is bright and has an expected hope. Others should not define your worth.

Jesus completed His purpose because He did not allow the world to define Him. He knew how fickle the human heart was and so He solely relied on God’s validation. You, too, should focus on allowing God to validate you and define you. As He validates you, other people’s opinions of you will cease to define you and this will lead to a freer life for you.

Conclusion

Questioning your worth stems from feelings of inadequacy and not knowing your identity in Jesus. You don’t always have to allow other people to define you. Because this is the number one reason for questioning your worth, culture, and society too can have a direct effect on causing you to question your worth. But when you allow God to be the one to define you, you will experience a freedom that can only come from Him. And remember, prayer and reading the Bible are keys that will help you stop questioning your worth. Don’t stop TRUSTING God. And never give up on you, because God will never give up on you. He loves you and wants you to know that you matter to Him. He wants to speak to you. open your heart to Him today and hear what He has to say about you.