As you’re reading this I’m on my way home from one of our weekend seminars: Reconnect! I love the message of this seminar; it’s all about reconnecting to your first love, which is something we must all do on a regular basis with every relationship we value.
Remember, more than anything else, love is about value. I often hear preachers say you can’t love your car, your house, etc., but that’s only a half-truth. The Bible warns against the love of money, i.e. the things money can buy. Many people have more value for their possessions than the people in their life or the God that purchased their salvation.
Why would anyone love an inanimate object more than a person who could love them back? When we understand love as value this becomes easy to understand! We value that which we believe meets needs in our life. The deepest need anyone has is to love and be loved and it’s through this process we develop our sense of dignity and worth.
The person with low self-worth isn’t experiencing God’s love and acceptance; they’re searching desperately for something to give them a sense of value. The common substitutes for this are success, money, possessions, fame and sexual conquest, to name just a few. But, since these things can never meet the need of the heart for love and value they will only meet the need of the ego which works through the addiction process. In the process the amount of money, fame or conquest that will stimulate you today grows tomorrow. With each passing day the addiction demands more of the same to satisfy it.
The momentary sense of importance is a poor substitute for worth and significance, but it’s just enough of a stimulant that we place value, i.e. love on those things that can never love us back or give true self-worth. But, if we aren’t getting our self-worth needs met through a loving, intimate relationship with the Lord the need is so deep we will always find a substitute which we’ll come to value.
Our capacity to operate in authority as God has called us is rooted in our sense of dignity and worth. Psalms 8 clearly shows that the dominion we are to have in Planet Earth is an outgrowth of God crowning us with glory and honor, i.e. dignity and worth. Condemnation, doubt, struggles with temptation, and possibly every limiting factor that challenges us is a manifestation of low self-worth (not seeing ourselves as God sees us)!
About 25 years ago I preached a series called Dignity and Worth and it‘s possibly among the top five most influential series I’ve ever preached. I recently recorded an entirely new version of that series which, I think, is more effective for the day in which we now live.
Most of the areas whereupon we attempt to use faith are actually fruit problems. We attempt to use faith for our symptoms, yet never attempt to use our faith for the root issues. This is why so many believers are frustrated, tired and burned out. When we don’t deal with the root, the fruit grows back no matter how many times we pick it all from the tree.
Jesus told one person, go and sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you ( John. 5:14). He didn’t say God would make something worse come upon you, nor did He say He would make something worse come upon you. The Greek translation indicates that it’s something that arises from the person committing the action.
The only way to end sin in your life is to have a deep sense of who you are in your relationship with God, to know and experience His love, and to feel about yourself the way He feels about you! The way to keep from wavering when you step out in faith for healing, financial needs or any other major conflict in your life is have that deep sense of dignity and worth. This is the emotional and spiritual root of all that is promised to us. This is the one component that dictates our capacity to take hold of a promise and bring it unto ourselves. This is the foundation for faith!
I encourage you to watch every broadcast in October and November as I take you as far into dignity and worth as I can. Be sure to download the free message for this month, Seeing Yourself as God Sees You. And check out the new series, Dignity and Worth: The Life Matrix. Should you have an opportunity to do so, be sure to attend a Dignity and Worth Conference in your area. The next one will probably be in Atlanta. I’ll keep you posted!
Dignity and worth is absolutely essential for the days that lie ahead. The person who isn’t rooted in the glory and honor given to us from God will never be established in the Gospel of Peace. When faced with hardship they will always question themselves, “What did I do wrong to make this happen?”
Thank you for helping so many people make this journey.
Together we are changing the way the world sees God!
Blessings,
Jim Richards