September 27, 2020
My Worth Is Not in What I Own
By Graham Kendrick, Keith & Kristyn Getty
I rejoice in my Redeemer, Greatest Treasure, Wellspring of my soul.
I will trust in Him, no other. My soul is satisfied in Him alone
A couple weeks ago Pastor George gave a sermon about the sin of envy. Later that week, I became envious. Hmm…I think God was trying to teach me something.
You see, I’ve always had this issue with envy. Growing up, I had many friends who were able to experience things that I would like to experience, go places I’d love to go, and have things that I wanted. I would often wonder if they were truly grateful and appreciative for those things. After all, if it were me, I would like to think that I would be super excited and appreciative…but I don’t know. Maybe I wouldn’t have been.
Here’s a quick example. I used to love everything American Girl®—the magazines, the books, the dolls. One place I always wanted to go (and my child-like heart would still like to) is the American Girl® Place, a store in New York City. At the time, my parents couldn’t afford to go on a day trip to the city and buy me something from the store, and I understood that. But then one day my sister got invited to go with a group of friends for a tea party at the store. I was soooo envious about that! I thought it was unfair that my sister got to go on this trip and I didn’t. I loved American Girl more than her, so of course if anyone should get to go, it should be me. Right?
When you’re envious of someone your heart starts to harden towards them, and you may even become angry. Your pride gets the better of you and tells you that you deserve what that person has more than they do. That’s exactly how I felt. To be completely honest, that is something I still feel. I confess that I am always struggling with the sin of envy.
Sometimes it’s hard to sit back and watch others prosper, especially when it seems like they don’t work as hard as we do to be able to enjoy or afford certain luxuries in life. This is particularly true for those who hold some kind of power or authority over us. In this world we see many people prosper, and those people don’t always seem like “the good guys.” We see how much money they make, how fancy they live, and think that we deserve those things more than they do.
I feel like this envy is perpetuated when we see those who do not live a lifestyle that is pleasing to God prosper. But when that happens, we Christians can easily forget that we too are sinners, and that we are not supposed to take pride in worldly treasures. We forget that we are supposed to store up our treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:20), to set our mindsa things above, not on earth (Colossians 3:2), and to be content with what we have (Hebrews 13:5).
Our pride causes a downward spiral of discontentment, jealousy, envy, and even anger.
But we must remember this: we do not deserve anything in the first place. We are all sinners, and unworthy of God’s gifts. But God loves us so much, that he freely gives us his grace and mercy and bestows on us blessings upon blessings. Because of this we must delight ourselves in the Lord and be content.
Today’s Selah Saturday song reminds us that our worth is not in what we own, how much money we make, how smart we are, or how strong we are. Our worth is found only in Jesus Christ, and our treasures in heaven are worth far more than anything we could ever have here on earth.
Then he [Jesus] said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
Luke 12:15
