But the Lord said to Samuel, Look not on his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. – 1 Samuel 16:7, AMP

We are such fools. We worry about our looks. We worry about how smart we appear. We worry about our social status. We worry about whether or not we are liked or well thought of or respected. In short, we worry about what other people think about us, and most of us waste perfectly good time, energy, money, and emotion trying to impress those around us – and despairing when we fail to do so.

We worry about what other people think of us because we believe that our personal worth is tied to the esteem others give us.  This belief is a lie!  Our true worth has nothing to do with how good our grades are, how good we look, how smart we appear, how much money we have, or how much esteem others give us because of such things. Our true worth is rooted in whether or not we have a heart after God’s own heart. God’s opinion of us is the only one that matters, so His esteem is the only esteem we should seek after. We understand that God alone gave us our earthly life. We understand that God alone can give us our eternal life. So why can’t we grasp the fact that God alone gives us our worth, both here on earth, and in eternity?

Stop comparing yourself with other people.  Stop measuring your worth according to how much respect others give you. Stop crying when someone else wins the prize that you wanted to win. Start realizing that the only race worth running is the race to be more like Christ, and start realizing that everyone who strives to be like Christ is a winner in God’s eyes.

Our goal is (and should be) to win Christ’s favor by cultivating a heart that longs for nothing else but to please Him. The more successful we are in achieving this goal, the more worth we have in God’s eyes. And it doesn’t matter one lick what anyone else thinks about us so long as God holds us in high esteem.

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