When my son died at only nine days of age, I struggled in many ways. One thing that haunted me was the fact that the world would never know he existed. Little William would never accomplish anything or succeed in any way. I wanted his little life to hold significance.
We all want our children to grow up and make a difference in their world. Maybe they will become a famous sports figure and help the underprivileged. Or we dream of them becoming doctors that cure cancer. Whatever we desire for them, we want significance for their lives.
Worldly Significance
The rise of social media further illustrated my point. I recently played a game, and the person with the most Instagram followers got to go first. We seek followers to show off our importance. Then, we use our numbers to compare ourselves to others. We want the world to recognize that we exist and hold a purpose.
Looking to the Bible
As the world seeks significance, the Christian looks to God to understand our worth. And, that value comes from being a part of Christ. Our Bibles offers us many verses to show how much we matter to our God. Below are a sample of those verses:
- Matthew 18:12; “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?” – God leaves the 99 behind to go in search of us when we are lost.
- Matthew 10:29-31; “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” – God counts your hairs. We don’t even know that about ourselves.
- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” – We are a walking, living temple of God.
- Genesis 1:27; “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” – We are the image of God.
- Romans 5:8; “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – we matter so much that God willingly died for our sins.
God’s Plans
But, we can easily forget our importance to God as we get caught up in worldly ways. As an author, I get caught up in the numbers game too. How many books did I sell, how many people follow my author’s page? When I take my eyes off God and look to the world to validate me, I miss out on the things God plans for me.
Lessons of Importance
I am reminded of the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand in John 1-14. The story tells us of a young boy who offered his minor amount of food, the two fishes and five loaves, to Jesus. Jesus turned these insignificant items into something of significance and fed five thousand with it. And, He can do the same thing with our lives. When we find our importance in God, He can use us to change the world for eternity.
John the Baptist reminded us of this principle when he penned John 3:30; “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John understood his purpose. His life only gained significance when he pointed others to Christ. He instructed his followers to turn to Christ and follow Him. John decreased so Christ could increase.
Follow God
“So, I use the little phrase, God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in him. He gets the glory. I get the joy.” by John Piper. When we seek to give God all the glory, we find our joy. In other words, seeking recognition for Christ provides us with a joy that transcends anything the world has to offer me. God becomes the one I follow, and He is the only follower I seek.
Prayer
Lord, let me seek You alone for my significance. The world offer flattery but nothing of true meaning. Teach me Your ways and lead me on Your path through my life. I want to decrease so You can increase. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Grace and Peace to you,
Yvonne M. Morgan is a Christian author, blogger, and speaker.
Matthew 28:19 “Therefore, GO and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
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Such a clear explanation of how God defines significance so differently from the world!
Thanks Ava. And we are called to follow the ways of Christ. Grace and peace to you
Your post reminded me of this book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/384771.The_Power_of_the_Powerless
The lives some people perceive as insignificant can have remarkable influence. There is indeed power in the powerless. Those brief lives mark others. The meaning in William’s life still resounds–in you, to us.
Thanks Nancy. I will check out the book, sounds interesting. God uses the powerless and insignificant things of this world to change it. Thanks for commenting. Grace and peace to you
These are excellent points, the seeking to put Christ as the focus of our lives, rather than seeking to gain the numbers and the followers and the status. When I first began writing in 2008, I determined to reserve about 15-30 minutes total in any given day as my limit for social media interaction. I would jump it, interact briefly, and then get out. This strategy kept me from being consumed with the pursuit of numbers and the “greatness” they promised. Our “greatness” is found in putting Christ first, for then we focus on HIS greatness, rather than our own.
Great idea to limit your time on social media. As writers, we can become consumed by numbers. We write for the glory of God, not for ourselves. Thanks Melinda. Grace and peace to you
I pray we all remember to give Him the glory. Great message.
Thanks very much Melissa. Grace and peace to you
So good. We live in a culture that makes us clamor for attention and gain our worth that way, but our worth is in Christ. Amen: We must decrease and God must increase.
Amen Jessica. He must increase. Thanks for commenting. Grace and peace to you
Yvonne, I relish in the fact that the Lord takes our meager things and us–just as we are–to show our worth only comes through Him and not on our own.
Very true Karen. We only find our worth in Him. Thanks for commenting. Grace and peace to you
What great reminders here that what we think is important and what God thinks is important don’t always match!
Yes, we think we know and understand the mind of God but we don’t. Thanks Nancy