University of California scientists conducted a study that indicated that when teens saw large numbers of likes beside a photo they had shared on social media, their brains reacted the same as if they’d eaten chocolate or been given money. Many of us, maybe all of us struggle to discover a healthy sense of self. Someone told me recently that they probably didn’t have a single day that they felt good about themselves until they were well into their 30s. People look for value in:
·
Relationships and
substances
·
The performance
trap
·
Career
accomplishments
·
What other people
think of us
·
Our gifts and
talents
·
Whether or not we
get to sit at the cool kid table
·
Our education (I
recently saw “M.Div” grafted onto a Facebook user name)
But when the Bible wants to give definition to your value, it says things like, “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how shall He not also freely give us all things?” Or, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and gave His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Or, “God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for the ungodly.”
Some modern songs have captured the sense of Psalm 22 very well: “The Father turns His face away, as wounds which mar the Chosen One, bring many sons to glory.” Or “I’m forgiven because You were forsaken; I’m accepted you were condemned. I’m alive and well, your Spirit lives within me, because You died and rose again.”
Philip Yancey tells about receiving a post card from a friend that said, “I am the one Jesus loves.” The friend later explained that he had just heard Brennan Manning describe how the Gospel writer John found his identity in this subtle signature found in His Gospel: “the one whom Jesus loved.”
Sometimes I find myself wallowing in the mire of self-hatred—or if I’m really doing poorly soaring on some momentary ego trip. If I forget my real identity I’ll soar and sag between these polar extremes. Elated at my Facebook likes. Deflated and crestfallen because no one seems to know I exist. Struggling to understand my value when God says: “Son, do you want to know your worth? Go stand at the foot of the cross. Look at my pierced, abandoned, broken Son! Hear His haunted cry! There’s your value! It’s your purchase price!”
·
There is my
approval – in His temporary
abandonment.
·
There is my
rest – in His temporary, colossal
distress.
·
There is my
self-esteem - in His being “Esteemed
stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our
transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our
peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:34-5).
·
There is my
value – “In Him being a worm and no
more a man (Ps 22:6).
·
There is my
confidence – in His temporary
confusion.
·
There is my
anchor – in Him briefly being set
adrift from the mooring of His Father.
·
There’s my
certainty – in His momentary
questioning, “Why? Why am I abandoned?”
I can be such an idiot sometimes, if I’m honest. Full of self-doubt. My well-being tied to my circumstances. Wondering if God likes me, much less loves me. Adrift in my thoughts and mired in uncertainty. Frantic for approval. And God says, “You are the one Jesus loves. You! You’re the one. And hey you: you’re the one, and you, and you and you.” Our worth is on full display in the cross of Jesus. There’s God’s love and acceptance plainly spelled out.
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