A student in architecture entered a nationwide contest for building design. Judged by a panel of architects, her design received Honorable Mention. She was utterly depressed. She believed hers was the best design. At lunch on the last day of the convention she was sitting over her uneaten sandwich, looking at her creation. An old man was looking at it, too. At last he remarked, not knowing who had designed the building, “This one, I think, is the best of the lot.” Judges had merely given her work Honorable Mention, but one old man had liked it. The young student went home elated.

Why? The old man was Frank Lloyd Wright, probably the greatest architect of the time.

When the authority tells us something we can count on it. God is the authority on who we are. He is our Creator. He gives us the correct information. He is the one we should be listening to about who we are.

1. You Are Acceptable

Most of us spend our entire lives trying to earn acceptance. We seek it from our parents, peers, and partners. Our desire to be accepted influences the kind of clothes we wear, the kind of car we drive, the kind of house we buy, and even the career we choose.

Why are we so driven by acceptance? Remember playing baseball as a kid and dividing up the teams? Usually the two best players would be captains and as they were choosing up sides you were thinking, “I hope I get chosen by this team, because they are the winning team.” f that team chose you, remember how great you felt to be chosen by the best player? On the other hand, remember how bad you felt when they got down to the last two or three and you still were not chosen?

When you are chosen, accepted, it raises your self-esteem.

Even with our disabilities, character flaws, shortcomings, insecurities, and immaturity, God accepts us as we are. No conditions. Nor restrictions. He chooses us for his team. We don’t have to get cleaned up or stitched up or made up for God to accept us.

2. You Are Valuable

How much do you think you are worth? Don’t confuse valuables with value. To answer the question, we need to ask another question, what determines value? Value depends on what someone is willing to pay for something. A house, a car, a piece of art, or a baseball card are only worth whatever someone is willing to pay for them. And, value depends on who has owned an item in the past. The auctions of Jacqueline Kennedy’s and Princes Diana’s personal possessions reveals that value is enhanced by previous owners.

Jesus went to the cross for us. Christ died for us. The cross proves your value. Why? We are such incredible value and worth to him. In society’s value system, we may seem like nothing more than an orange in comparison to a diamond. But to Jesus, we are the most precious treasure in the entire world.

3. You Are Forgiven

No three words communicate self-worth greater than: You are forgiven. When we come to Christ our sins are wiped out. We will not be held accountable for them. They are forgotten. Gone. Erased. Treated as though they never existed.

God is in the business of forgiving sin. He can take all our sins and wipe our slate clean. Immediately, our past can be purged.

When we confess our sin, Christ forgives us immediately and without charge. As if nothing had every gone wrong.

4. You Are His

Family therapist Paul Faulkner tells of the man who set out to adopt a troubled teenage girl. One would question the father’s logic. The girl was destructive, disobedient, and dishonest. She was believed she was determined to be this way, and her behavior was carrying out the false and erroneous thoughts she had of herself. One day she came home from school and ransacked the house looking for money. By the time he arrived, she was gone and the house was in shambles.

Upon hearing of her actions, friends urged him not to finalize the adoption. “Let her go,” they said. After all, she’s not really your daughter.” His response was simply, “Yes, I know. But I told her she was.”

God, too, has told us that we are his children, if we trust and believe in him. We may rebel and abuse our rights and privileges, but God still tells us that we are his.

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