The Truth About Your Worth

I want you to imagine something for a sec… 

Imagine ordering a blizzard…  and you’re standing there inside a Dairy Queen at the counter, and the girl making your blizzard goes to hand you your blizzard over the counter. But she turns around to give it to you and she’s got it in her hands. 

No cup.

At this point the ice cream is dripping down her hands onto the counter. You’ve already lost a couple of cookie dough pieces that have fallen on the floor. You don’t know where the girl’s hands have been. It’s just nasty.

And don’t even think about asking her to flip it upside down like they do for blizzards. That thing’s gonna just go *flop* right on the counter. Lookin’ like a sad, melted snowman. 

I mean, can you imagine? You know what the first question you would be asking this girl would be if she came up to you and goes, “small cookie dough blizzard.” You’d say, “Where the heck is my cup?!?!?!?! Because I was expecting the ice cream, the product, to come in a cup. I was expecting the product to come in a vessel.”

What I want you to understand is that the cup is only worth a few cents. It’s not very valuable. But it takes on a tremendous importance and value because of what is placed in it.

The cup does not give value to the product. It’s the product that gives value to the cup. 

Here’s what I’m getting at: We are just the vessel, and Christ is in us. And we shouldn’t get puffed up when God starts using us, because we’re just a 9 cent cup. What do you do when you eat all your ice cream and the cup is empty? You throw it away!! Because without any ice cream in your cup, the cup is worth nothing. But when you are a filled-up vessel with the Holy Spirit inside of you, you are not worthless. You are valuable. 

What I want you to get is this - it’s about what’s inside of you that makes the difference. It is what’s inside of you that determines your value. You don’t have to be great. You don’t have to be super hot. You don’t have to be super talented. But you do have to be clean. And you do have to be empty. 

You can’t be living in dirt. You can’t be filled up with the wrong things. God says if you’ll give me a vessel, I’ll give you my all. 

We get so worried if we’re enough. If we’re the best. How we compare to the people around us. Guess what!! I don’t care if you’re the most beautiful. I don’t care if you’re the most talented. We are just vessels for God to use. When we look at our lives as a means of comparison, we are missing the point!!! We will always feel empty.

But when we realize that it is the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us, that we are meant to be here to bring honor and glory and praise to Him, we take this pressure off of ourselves. It’s not about us!!!

It’s not about us.

You are a vessel - a container - just like this cup. When you fill yourself with the right things, you have boldness and confidence that others don’t understand! All they’ll be able to say is, “They’ve been with Jesus.”

Look, I know what it’s like to live for the wrong things. I know what it’s like to feel the FOMO - fear of missing out and trying to live for the world. To have my cup filled up with the wrong things. But I also know what it’s like to be a vessel for God to use. I know the boldness and confidence I have because of Him when I fill myself up with Him.

So that’s what I want for you.

But maybe you’re thinking, “You don’t know me. You don’t understand. You don’t know what I’ve done. You don’t know my shame. I’m dirty. I’m filled up with the wrong things.”

I may not know the details of your situation, but I know how you feel. I also know that Jesus can make you clean. He wants to empty out all the lies you have floating around in your mind to make room for Him.

We have it mixed up. The world tells us it’s all about what’s on the outside that matters. That it’s all about us. But it’s not about what’s outside of us. It’s about what’s within us.

That’s where our worth comes from.

God did not pick out the greatest, most prestigious people. He picked out fishermen, tax collectors, thieves!!!! He didn’t need them to have a fancy title or the best clothes. He needed vessels. He needed people willing to open themselves up to what He wanted to do in their life.

Because God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

And He wants to use you.

2 Timothy 2:21 says, “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.”

It doesn’t matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done. It doesn’t matter what struggles you have right now. It doesn’t matter if your home is broken or you struggle with anxiety or depression. What matters is if you’re willing to open up your heart to God and be a vessel for Him to live inside.

I don’t know if you realize this, but the men Jesus picked out were unschooled. They were as ordinary as it gets. But when these men opened themselves up to Jesus, they became vessels for the Holy Spirit. And THEY were the ones who made the church come alive after Jesus died and rose again. THEY were the ones going around, preaching the Good News. These ordinary, unschooled men.

Did they ever mess up? Sure they did! But as they kept opening up their hearts to God, they became stronger vessels. They didn’t have as many cracks. They began to hold in what God was filing them up with. They may have made some mistakes along the way, but God didn’t give up on them, and He won’t give up on you.

In Acts 4:13, there were these high and mighty men - I’m talking the popular kids, alright. These men saw these two disciples of Jesus heal someone. This is what it says: 

“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.”

Peter and John - these two unschooled, ordinary men - they puzzled these high and mighty men. The men were astonished it says. What made the difference for Peter and John is not that they won an award or wore the latest fashion trend or made the varsity starting lineup. It’s that they spent time with Jesus. It made such an impact on these other guys that they didn’t know what to say. They were absolutely speechless.

I want to let you in on a secret… You have the ability to make people speechless too. Not by changing your hair. Or your clothes. Or your talents. Or your relationship status. It’s by spending time with Jesus. 

I’m not saying people are going to like it. I’m not saying it’s always going to be easy. Peter and John were literally in prison before this. But I am saying people are going to notice it. The mature ones will want it.

So enough with this whole, “Am I enough? Do I measure up to the people around me?” All we are is people in need of a Savior. All we are are vessels needing to be filled up by the Holy Spirit. We’re just a 9-cent cup, but when Jesus is in our lives, we become so valuable. I don’t care if you’re Justin Bieber or the least popular person in your city or town. We are simply imperfect people in need of Jesus. You may think that different things here on earth will fill you up - fortune, fame, popularity, all the material things. But when you try to do that all you get is crap in a cup. It’s worth nothing. 

Our worth comes from the Father. That worth makes all the difference. 

Maybe you’re someone who is filled up with the wrong things. You have little value because what you fill yourself up with has little worth. You fill yourself up with dirty Instagram accounts or judgmental thoughts, anxiety or worry. You do anything you can just to get some laughs or approval from people who don’t add any value to your life. Change that. Empty yourself. Ask Jesus to make you clean. Let the Holy Spirit in. Let it fill up your cup. Without it, you’re not worth much. 

But with it, you’re valuable. You’re precious. 

You’re extraordinary.