My wife's father died last year, propelling us into the daunting task of being the trustees for his trust. One of the tasks we had to carry out was to get his stuff and appraise it for sharing it with the six beneficiaries. You understand the difficulty, right? So much stuff was so valuable to so many ... in purely sentimental terms. "Remember that picture?" Yes ... but ... what's it worth? He had a coin collection that had a bunch of coins but ... not nearly worth as much as they thought it would be. You see, "worth" is often determined by the individual. There was, for instance, an antique table that listed at $3000, but ... who would actually pay that? Value is often an extremely relative thing
We humans have a "value" problem. Paul said, "I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think ..." (Rom 12:3). Clearly we have a tendency to think too highly of ourselves. But we also suffer from a "self-esteem" crisis, where we think of ourselves as not worth much. And, yet, God says, "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man" (Gen 9:6), placing real value ... on every human.
So we have this difficulty in figuring out value. Is it monetary, sentimental, time, effort? There are so many methods. Many determine if a church is "valuable" ... healthy ... based on numbers ... conversions, baptisms, members. So it's almost jarring when God tells Israel, "YHWH did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples" (Deut 7:7). Paul wrote, "Consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God" (1 Cor 1:26-29). God's value system is not like ours. He chooses the least, the weak, the foolish. He chooses "so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand" (Rom 9:11). I guess, then, if we want to value accurately, we'll have to check with God and His standards. "Value" is determined, ultimately, by what someone is willing to give for it. God ... sent His Son for those who believe (John 3:16).
5 comments:
Our true value is completely dependent on the one who created us. We don't get to determine that value. Just like a child doesn't get to determine its value to its parents. We lose sight of that so often, in both directions of over and under valuing. But we should think rightly of ourselves through God's word.
Indeed, the value of something is purely subjective, differing from person to person. My son (a minimalist), who lives with us and urges us regularly to de-clutter (we are not hoarders but have trouble parting with “still useful” things), has already indicated what our stuff is worth to him: “When you two die, I am renting a dumpster first thing.” Ouch! In your words, “‘Value’ is determined, ultimately, by what someone is willing to give for it”--or conversely, how surely they will pay good money to get rid of it!
Seriously, though, valuing things in this earthly life must be done with an eye toward eternity--i.e. what will last forever, since “you can’t take it with you.” I will also want to esteem the things my heavenly Father does, which includes His Son, of course. As the minds behind the Mastercard advertising campaign would say, “Priceless!”
P.S. Stan asked, “‘Remember that picture?’ Yes ... but ... what's it worth?” That valuation is easy--a picture is worth a thousand words. :) And “a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver; like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold” (Proverbs 25:11-12). So that picture is apparently very valuable!
Yes, Lorna, that picture is very valuable ... so we cut it in six pieces and gave a piece to each of the beneficiaries. Well ... no. I'm kidding. I'm not denigrating sentimental value, but we were tasked with appraising and dividing. It's hard to divide sentiment.
I hope you were smart and took that $3,000 antique table! ;)
Having gone through the process a couple of times, I have a sense of what you are going through. I've also learned how people overvalue their homes based on the strangest criteria.
Our value, as David mentioned, is found entirely in YHWH. Our stuff is only worth what someone will pay for it. Antiques Roadshow probably hasn't helped things because so many people are convinced that their old stuff is hugely valuable simply because it's old. They're convinced that everything is a treasure.
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