Do you believe this equation?  

SW=MP+OO

Self-Worth equals My Performance plus the Opinion of Others.

We are told that we must perform to have self-worth in this world. 

I see how these performance-based beliefs start when we are young.  

In school, we are taught that we are to get good grades… perform.  

We are to get good grades to get into college and even earn scholarships… perform.  

Once in college, there is an expectation to do well so that we can graduate and land a good job… perform.  

You get the idea. 

We are conditioned to believe it is necessary to perform to have any self-worth and be worthy of being loved.  

When we fall short of specific benchmarks, we may feel like a failure or unworthy of living a successful or a joy-filled life.  

This lie of having to perform creeps into our belief system all too easily.  

The TRUTH is that God already loves you completely. Nothing you can do will increase His love for you. 

There is no need to be stressed to perform for others or even for God because we are under His grace.  He loves us completely.  There is not one thing we can “DO” that will make Him love us more!!!  I LOVE that He loves me that much!!! 

The opinion of others literally makes no difference in your self-worth.  Because who you are, with Jesus, matters more than what other people tell you about yourself.

Because you are made in His image, He is the one who determines your self-worth. 

People's opinions and the ways of the world do not apply to how much He loves us! 

Or do you believe this equation?

SW=GTS

Self-Worth equals what God’s Truth Says.

Your self-worth is based on what God’s Truth Says.  Nothing more. Nothing less.

At some point, we either accept and believe what God says, or we do not. This is the essence of faith. 

I want you to know your actual worth.  How do we know what God’s truth says?  We read the Bible and focus on His promises and truths for us!  

Psalm 139 is my favorite psalm because it reminds me of God’s truth and who I am in Christ.

Let’s take a look.

Realize that God knows all about you. 

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Psalm 139:1-6

Remember that God is always with you.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. Psalm 139:7-12

Rejoice in the fact that God created you.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14

Recognize that God uniquely designed you.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:15-16

Receive God’s loving thoughts toward you. 

How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you. Psalm 139:17-18

Renounce God’s enemies as enemies to you. 

If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Psalm 139:19-22

Respond to God as He changes you. 

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

The next time you start believing the first equation I shared with you, I encourage you to read through Psalm 139 and remind yourself of God’s Truth and what it says about your self-worth.