A Woman's Worth

Proverbs 31:10 "...she is worth far more than rubies."

It was picture day in 7th grade, with my new shirt. I had a brief melt down in the dressing room the day prior when I realized that the size medium I had once worn no longer wanted to be friends.

Like any 12 year old, I had grown. But like any girl, I saw "large" and heard "fat."

The next day, I stood in line patiently awaiting my turn to take my photo, when I heard mumbling and laughing behind me. Realizing my tag (WITH THE SIZE) was hanging out of the back of my shirt, I ran to the bathroom and cried from embarrassment.

Unfortunately, many of us are like my new shirt. We hang an imaginary label, not on our clothes, but on our worth. We label ourselves as cheap, fat, unworthy and worse. We don't believe that anyone could find value in us and we certainly don't understand how God sees us or how He could ever use us in His plan. But nothing could be further from the truth. 

It's interesting that in the very beginning our Proverbs 31 - before God ever asks us to do or say anything - He establishes our worth. He wants us to know that our past does not define us, other people do not define us, and our accomplishment (or lack thereof) do not define us. He established who we were before we ever existed and He wants to walk in that understanding.

1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us we were bought with a price - but too often we put our own price tag on ourselves with asking God what we are really worth. When we name our own price, we hinder God and ourselves because we've bound ourselves to a label that doesn't belong to us. Because I saw "Size Large" and labeled myself as fat, I was unable to see myself the way God sees me because I was looking at a label that did not belong to me. Can you imagine what God could do with us if we really understood who we were. 

As a Proverbial Woman we must not be willing to allow things that add no value to pour into us and we must ambitiously invest in "ingredients" that nurture our true value. Prayer, devotion, studying, healthy relationships. All of these things nurture our true value and block out lies of unworthiness.

Take a moment to write down 5 things that add to your true value and 5 things that destroy it. How can you make a effort to pursue what feeds your worth and push away what destroys it.