What Are You Worth?

I’ve seen this before and maybe you have too, but it bears repeating.  It has been presented in a number of different ways, but always with the same point.  I saw it with a fifty dollar bill.

It was quite a number of years ago when I saw it demonstrated.  It was one of those all day conferences with a number of different speakers.  I wish I could remember the man who showed us this, but I just can’t for the life of me remember.

As he took his turn at the lectern, he held up a fifty dollar bill. It was a crisp, new fifty dollar bill.  He assured everyone in the room that it was indeed a real fifty dollar bill. He then asked, “Would anyone like to have this fifty dollar bill?”

Of course nearly every hand shot into the air.  The speaker continued.  “Well, first, before I give it away, let me do this.  He then took that fifty dollar bill and crumpled it, and wadded it up. It no longer looked like the crisp bill it was just a few moments before.  In fact, it didn’t resemble a bill at all.

He then asked, “Does anyone still want this crumpled up piece of paper?”  “I do!” came a shout from somewhere in the room.  It was easy to see that almost everyone else was still in favor of being the lucky recipient of what they knew to be a fifty dollar bill.

The speaker said, “Well, but what if I do this?”  He then unraveled the bill, smoothed it out, and put it on the floor.  He then began to grind it into the floor with first his right foot, and then with his left foot.

This once brand new, crisp fifty dollar bill was now dirty and completely wrinkled.  And, he asked one more time, “Does anyone still want this dirty piece of paper?”  And of course everyone still wanted it.  After all, we all knew it was a fifty dollar bill.

The speaker then handed the dirty bill to a lady in the front row, who exclaimed, “Thank you!”  She was so happy to receive this dirty, crumpled up piece of paper.

The speaker then made his point, which by now, I’ll bet you have figured out.  He told us that we had all learned a very important and valuable lesson.  “Even after what I did to that money, you all still wanted it because it did not decrease its value.  It is still worth fifty dollars.”

He went on to say, “Many times in our own lives, we are crumpled up, thrown to the floor, stepped on, and ground into the dirt.  So many times this happens by our own decisions and the circumstances that follow those decisions.  And many times because of where we end up we are tempted to feel that we are simply worthless.”

He talked about that no matter what has happened or what will happen in our lives, we will never lose our value. He mentioned that to those who love us, we are priceless. He said a couple of other things while making this point that I have forgotten.  But this vivid demonstration reminded me of an even deeper truth.

If it is true that God gave His Son to die for us and that his death paid the price for all sins, then we have been bought with a very, very high price.  You pay a price for something because you believe that it is worth the price you have agreed to pay. That means that we are worth everything to God.

So there may indeed be times that we feel worthless because of one situation or another.  But regardless of what we have done, or, what we haven’t done, in God’s eyes we are still worth the highest price ever paid.  Thinking about what God thinks of you, rather than what you think of you, will help your self worth more than you know.  Try it out!

And always remember that no matter where your life has been, or even where it is today, you are still alive.  You are still breathing!  Start living your life to the best of your ability!  And, if you have ever seen the movie, “Seabiscuit,” you may remember my favorite line:  You don’t throw a whole life away just because it’s banged up a little.”