Where does your true worth lie? As single people we tend to seek out our worth in things that we can see, feel, hear, and touch, in short, things of the world. Things like how many likes we get on our Instagram pics, how much money we make, our accomplishments in the workplace, things that reinforce to us that we matter and we haven’t been forgotten. Our worth often lies in things like being in a relationship (no matter how solid or frail). As Christians we know that our worth truly lies within God’s sacrifice and love for us through Jesus. Which is why, sometimes, being a single, Christian can make it so much more difficult to reconcile the competing parts within ourselves.

Women, are taught by the world (often from a very early age), that our value lies in our ability to find a man and keep him, while living up to the standard set forth by others in our society. Men have similar pressures from society, often being taught their worth is found in the ability to provide for and protect a family or just in being “strong and manly.”  The problem that we encounter is that it’s often hard to tune those worldly messages out and replace them with God’s solid, and loving truth if you don’t have a solid grounding in His word.

As the holiday season approaches and many of us will inevitably be met with questions from family members or friends about why we are single and we begin to question our worth, it’s good to have some biblical truth to combat those worldly lies. So today I’m going to investigate where our worth lies and explore some verses that you can have in your mind for when those thoughts of loneliness and worthlessness begin to creep in.

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Psalm 139: 13-16 “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.”

In this verse we see David commending God for being the master craftsman that He is and making every part of us. God crafted you with His own hands and formed you just the way He wanted you to be. You are wonderfully handmade by God, Himself and God only makes things that are good in His sight. Just because you are not married or in a relationship does not negate your worth as a person, as a meticulously crafted creation, or as a child of our all knowing, all loving, God.

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Matthew 10:29-31 “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

God created all living things on earth. He took His time, ensuring that each plant, animal, and human was exactly as He wanted and intended for it to be within His purpose and according to His plan. This verse reminds us that not even the sparrows fall to the ground until God intends them to. God is in control of the lives of all His living creatures. God knows every minute detail about you, every hair on your head, every cell in your body, every tear you’ve cried. God took His time to ensure that you would meet His needs and be exactly the “you” that He wanted. There is not mistake in His design, so you are exactly where He means for you to be and you have infinite worth in His eyes. If God spent so much time and takes such great care of even the birds, then it stands to reason that He puts infinitely more worth in you and your life.

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Isaiah 64:8 “Yet, you Lord are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter, we are all the work of your hand.”

I love the image of this verse. The potter taking great care to form every line, curve, and detail into the pliable clay. It’s amazing to think that God took just as much time on you and me as an artist might take on a masterpiece (multiplied by 1000). In the same way that a guitar, which was once owned by a famous musician may be worth a ton of money, you are a precious child who was bought at a price by the almighty God. Because of His ownership,  you have infinite worth that the world can never take away or destroy.

1 Samuel 16:7 “The Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

It’s easy to forget, in our beauty obsessed world, that God’s vision of beauty is vastly and inconceivably different from ours. We strive for outward beauty (often to help us find a partner and make us feel worth more to the world ), but God wants us to strive for inner beauty and purpose. When God sent Samuel to find the new, chosen king (who turned out to be kind of a runt in his group of siblings), God wasn’t looking for the guy who appeared to be the tallest and the strongest physically. He saw beyond the outward appearance and saw the value in David, who was a man after God’s own heart. God LOVED David, and God LOVES you. You are God’s special, beloved child and He knows your heart, so He sees your inherent value, despite what the world may say about your outward appearance.

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Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”

As we’ve seen already, God took His time in crafting every detail about you and He looks at your heart, rather than your physical appearance. Now, you might say, “you have no idea the junk and dirt that is in my heart, you have no idea what I’ve done and there is no way that God would see that and still love me.” Well, let me just remind you… YES, He STILL loves you despite any dirt that you may have on the inside. Why? Because God loves you SO much that He sent Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice to make you new. When God looks at your heart, He sees a clean and shiny you through Jesus. As long as you have faith in the saving grace of Jesus’ sacrifice, God sees you as a clean and new masterpiece that He’s carefully still crafting for His plan.

So, as we’ve discovered, we have far more worth that the world would care to let us believe. As children of God, we have infinite worth in His eyes because of the sacrifice of Jesus. As we come upon the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US, it’s a time to express thanks for all of the blessings that God has bestowed upon us. What better reason to give thanks than for God’s love and His unending grace. You were bought at a great price, which Jesus paid, and you belong to the almighty God of the universe, so you are worth more than diamonds or gold. Always, always remember, my friends, that your worth is in God and not in the lies of this world.