30th March 2023

How much are you worth?

… you were bought at a price.
1 Corinthians 6:20 (NIVUK)

Have you ever looked at something, noticed the price being asked for it, and thought to yourself ‘that’s not worth it’? I’ve done that at both ends of the spectrum. I’ve gone into a shop to buy a loaf of bread, saw the price being charged and promptly retreated muttering to myself, ‘I’m not paying that much for a loaf of bread.’ I’ve also walked around an art exhibition that was selling paintings, noticed some that were being sold for more than £1,000, and thought to myself, ‘I don’t think it’s worth that much.’

At the end of the day, any product is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. That got me thinking about us human beings. How much are we worth? The basic chemical composition of the human body is: Oxygen 65%, Carbon 18.5%, Hydrogen 10%, Nitrogen 3.2%, Calcium 1.5%, Phosphorous 1%, Potassium 0.4%, Sulphur 0.3%, Sodium 0.2%, Chlorine 0.2%, Magnesium 0.1%, with other elements under 0.1%. ¹  The value of these elements on the open market is not easy to calculate, but one estimate is around £125. ²

Put like that it means we aren’t worth very much. Thankfully, God thinks each one of us is worth considerably more than that. He was willing to pay for us with the highest price possible – the death of his dearly beloved Son. God didn’t redeem us with gold and silver but with the precious blood of his Son (1 Peter 1:18-19). For humanity, God paid the ultimate price, which tells me that every human being is of infinite value. Doesn’t that do wonders for your self-worth? Doesn’t the fact that God loves you so much that he paid this supreme price for you inspire you to live for him? Graham Kendrick poignantly sums up the sentiment: 

If you heard that your life had been valued
That a price had been paid on the nail
Would you ask what was traded,
How much and who paid it
Who was He and what was His name?

If you heard that His name was called Jesus
Would you say that the price was too dear?
Held to the cross not by nails but by love
It was you broke His heart, not the spear!
Would you say you are worth what it cost Him?
You say ‘no’, but the price stays the same.
If it don’t make you cry, laugh it off, pass Him by,
But just remember the day when you throw it away
That He paid what He thought you were worth.

How much do you think He is worth, boy?
Will anyone stand up and say?

Tell me, what are you willing to give Him
In return for the price that He paid? ³

Jesus gave his all for us because that is what we are worth to God. Surely ‘love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all’. ⁴

Prayer
Father, thank you that you were willing to pay such a high price for us. As we bask in how highly you value us, help us to consider how much Jesus is worth to us, and then may we live for the one who gave himself for us. In Jesus’s name, we pray, Amen.

Study by Barry Robinson

¹ Composition of the human body – Wikipedia
² What is the human body made of? | BBC Science Focus Magazine
³ Taken from, Graham Kendrick, How Much Do You Think You Are Worth? (Is A Rich Man Worth More Than A Poor Man?), 1974 Make Way Music.
⁴ Taken from, Isaac Watts, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, 1707.

 

About the writer:
Barry Robinson is a minister in Grace Communion International and Regional Pastor for Southern England.

Local congregation:
Grace Communion International central London
Indian YMCA
Mahatma Gandhi Hall
41 Fitzroy Square
London
W1T 6AQ

Local congregational contact:
Barry Robinson
Email: london@gracecom.church

Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church