CHRISTIAN,
VALUE OF

A $100 bill can be crumpled, mashed, or spit on and it is still worth $100. Its value is not determined by what happens to it, but instead by the one who consigned it. The government says that this is worth $100. So it is worth $100 even if it is mistreated, stepped on, and spit on. It can even be ripped and taped back together and still be worth $100.

Many Christians feel that in their lives they have been stomped on, crushed, and bruised. However, their worth is not affected because their value has been consigned by another.77

Eph. 2:4–7

WHEN God saved you, He made you a diamond. If I rub a diamond in dirt, what I have is a dirty diamond. I have not lost the value of the diamond; I just let it get dirty. I shouldn’t let the dirt on the diamond distract me from knowing the true worth of what I hold in my hand. However, in order to truly appreciate the beauty of the diamond, I would have to get the dirt off the diamond and then restore it back to its original luster.78

I SAW a lady who had some roses, and the roses were dead. They were drooping and lifeless. They were good for nothing else but to be thrown away. But she wasn’t throwing them away. I saw her crumpling them in her hand. She explained that the roses were dead, but if she dried them and crushed them, she would then have potpourri. While the flowers were dead on the outside, they still had a lot of fragrance on the inside. Even in their apparent demise, they still could be turned into something sweet.79

[Death; Sacrifice; Victory]

Phil. 2:17–18