One of my favorite childhood pastimes was collecting sports and Pokémon cards. This was in the 1990’s and my favorite player was Kobe Bryant so I tried to collect as many of Kobe’s rookie cards as possible. I came home from school almost every day of 7th and 8th grade with $70 in my pocket from selling Pokemon cards. I was hustling!
This past year, I began collecting sports cards again after a twenty-three year hiatus. Today, I look at collecting sports cards as more of an investment, rather than a fun childhood fad. For individual sports cards, their monetary value is tied to the performance of the player on the card. If the player performs well and becomes a star, the value of his/her cards will increase. There are certain players’ cards that are worth up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. These would be the G.O.A.T.s’ (Greatest of All Time) like Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, Babe Ruth; etc.
On the contrary, If the player on the card performs poorly in their sport, the value of his/her cards will plummet and, in some cases, become a worthless piece of cardstock. Aren’t we happy to know that our value in God’s eyes does not go up or down based on our performance in our Christian walk? Hallelujah! There are many people who think that if they sin less, they become more valuable in God’s eyes. Others think that if they sin more, they become less valuable. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
For years, my self-worth was tied to the opinions and approval of others towards me. If someone did not like or approve of me, it made me feel less valuable. If someone showed me their approval, I could literally feel the value for myself increase within. For some of you reading this, maybe you base your value on the amount of money you have in the bank account or the job title you hold at your place of employment. Our value can be tied to so many different things, but the only thing we should be tying our value to is Jesus Christ.
The truth is that, at the foot of the cross, all people are loved and valued equally by God, regardless of performance, race, class. Ephesians 2:10, says, ”We are God’s masterpiece…” (NLT). Other translations of this same verse say we are God’s “handiwork” or “workmanship.” God knit each of us together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139: 13) and in Genesis 1:31, God looked at his handiwork in creating the world and, ”saw that it was very good!”. We are a part of His creation and can consider ourselves as very good as well.
When I think of us as God’s masterpieces, I think of famous paintings and sculptors like the Mona Lisa by Davinci, the Statue of David by Michaelangelo, or Starry Night by Van Goh. All these works of art are looked at as almost priceless pieces of art that only increase in value each and every year. In God’s eyes, we are more valuable than these. We are literally priceless in his eyes. We need to view ourselves in the same way that God views us. When God looks at us, he doesn’t see a stain ridden piece of junk. He sees his child cloaked in Jesus Christ’s perfect reputation laid upon us.
In this year of 2025 let us allow the truth that we are fully accepted, approved of, and unconditionally loved by the creator of the universe be the determination of our value.
