ABUSE: Stepped On but Still Precious

There are many people today who have been treated poorly. They feel beaten up, mishandled, treated badly, crushed, and trampled on. When someone's been treated like that, they begin to believe that they aren't worth much. If they were, why would anyone treat them like that?



Most people, if they were offered a $20 bill, would take it. What if that nice $20 bill was crumpled up, crushed into a little wad, beaten up, and then stomped on? Would you still want the $20 bill if it was offered to you? Well, of course you would. That's the point. No matter how abused and beaten up that $20 is, it's still worth just as much, and so are you.


When you think you're worthless, you start making choices based on that—throwing yourself away, settling for junk, doing anything for a little love. The truth is, you're just like that mistreated $20 bill. No matter how you've been treated, you're still just as valuable. You're still precious because God gave you your worth, and no one on earth can take it away.


We can go to God's Book to get the real truth about your value and find three worth-givers that cannot be taken from you.

• First, your worth is based on your being made in God's image. In Genesis 1:27 , the Bible says, "God created man in His own image." God made you as a reflection of Himself, so don't think you're not worth much!

Secondly, your worth is based on your being God's one-of-a-kind masterpiece. In Psalm 139:13 , David says to God, "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." When you believe you're not worth much, you're insulting the One who designed you. From the moment the egg and the sperm came together to start your life, you have been God's unique creation. If you don't believe it, look at your fingerprints. There's no one else like you.

• Most importantly, you are infinitely valuable because God paid for your sin with the life of His Son! Galatians 2:20 says, "I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Imagine the blood-stained cross at the top of Skull Hill near Jerusalem. That's where God's one and only Son thought you were so precious that He poured out His life for every wrong thing you have ever done or will ever do. He did that for you because that's the only way you could ever be forgiven of your sins, the only way you could ever have the love relationship with Him you were made for, and the only way you could be with Him in heaven forever.

The children are so right when they sing the song "Jesus loves me, this I know." He really does love you, and you can never experience how much you're worth until you experience the One who gave you your worth. That's what Jesus has come to give you today. He stands ready to enter your life upon your invitation and begin that love relationship He gave His life to give you. The life you were made for and the love you were made for, begins when you let Jesus into your life. No one loves you like he does!