The truth is that the Lord sent Jesus for sinners, not the righteous. The dilemma is that none of us can save ourselves; we need a Savior. Jesus is the Savior; as a matter of fact, the term Christ or Messiah means exactly that, savior. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world! Ephesians 2:8 clearly show us that truth, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Our faith, faith in Jesus, is what releases God’s grace. The word grace in the original Greek is “Charis,” which can be interpreted as a gift. God’s salvation is a gift of grace. 

Until a person fully understands what they have been saved from and saved to, they can never fully appreciate God’s grace. God’s grace, through Jesus Christ, means that I can live in victory here in this life and spend a future eternity in glory in Heaven. 

You might rightly say, “but pastor Vic, I’ve accepted Jesus into my life, and I still deal with sin in my life!” quite frankly, we all deal with sin, even as Christians. The difference is that the Lord sees us as we shall be and not as we are. We are all “works in progress!” that means we are moving from “faith to faith” and “glory to glory.” 

There are two things to consider as we fulfill the Christian walk as Believers. 

• One is that God has sent us the Holy Spirit to live in us and help us to live transformed lives. If we don’t learn to “hear” the Holy Spirit leading, guiding, and teaching us through the Bible and speaking to our hearts, we will always have struggles living a victorious Christian life. 
• The second thing to consider is that we want to change by His grace and in His grace! When we see and appreciate what the Lord has delivered us from, our love for God will be transformed into a life serving Him.

God Sees Value in You!

Another challenge for us to believe is that we have value to God! We can read in the Bible references to God’s great love for us, but we sometimes have a hard time believing it. I love what Jesus says in John 15:14, “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant, does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” You see, as a Believer, you stand in a special position; you are a friend of God!

Then there is the powerful statement by the Apostle Paul in Romans 8: 37, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” You see, once you are born-again, you can’t lose your salvation or position in God. Your relationship is not like a set of keys or mobile phone you’ve misplaced; the Lord will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Then we have the parables of Jesus attesting to our value to Him.

• Matthew 13:45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” You are the “pearl of great price!”
• Then in Matthew 10:29, “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” You see, again, you have value to God.
• Then there are the examples of your value to God found in Luke 15. You are the one in 99, the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. You are the lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son; you are all redeemed by God’s grace.

Change of View.

Your value is not in how you see yourself but in how God sees you! The problem is that we prefer to believe what the world says of us or what people say about us. None of us are perfect, but we are getting there, and one day when we see Jesus face to face, we will hear the words, “Well done good and faithful servant (Matthew 25:21 & 23).” All of us have been lost in life, but now we have the love of the Father, the sacrifice of the Son, and the compass of the Holy Spirit living in us.

As a child, I would wish I was in someone else’s family. My family was poor, and my parents were deaf mutes. So, I always wished I was in my friend’s family. I would even think that perhaps I was adopted and my real parents were famous and wealthy. Over the years, I’ve learned that many people have felt that way growing up. Well, here is the good news, you do belong to a new family, the family of God. 

Until you see yourself as valued beyond measure by God, you will always doubt and waver in your faith that He will take care of you. Imagine how different your life would be if you found out that you were a prince or a princess in real life. Your perspective would change, your priorities would change, and your life would change! Well, God says you are. A son or daughter of the King! You are royalty!

The Faith Walk.

For everything in the Word to come to pass requires that we “walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Spiritually speaking, your Father is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. That means you have to combat the lies that the devil has implanted in your mind and replace them with the truth of God. 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” Since faith is the key to grace, let’s look at God’s kind of faith.

Faith means that you believe what God has said in His Word, and you, therefore, act like you believe, even when you have doubts and fears. All of the great men and women of the Bible had moments of doubt and fear, but they chose to believe in God and received the crown of glory. 

Don’t let your past define your future. Others may point out your failures and mistakes; however, it is what God says about you that matters, and He says you are His.

For example, if I showed you a USD 20 bill and asked what is it worth, you would respond 100 dollars. If I folded the $20 bill in half, would it reduce its value? What if I crumpled it up? Would it still be worth 20 dollars? Finally, if I stepped on it and ground it into the ground, what would it be worth? Of course, the answer is $20. It is not the outward appearance that produces the value. In the same way, you have value in God’s eyes, and nothing or no one can diminish your value to Him.

The Process: Seeing yourself in a different light.

The way you see yourself in the light of Christ is a process. It begins with gratitude and gratefulness for what God has given you. Our motivation to change is recognizing God’s grace, which becomes the only thing that should make us want to change. That change is called transformation. It begins with a change of heart and direction in your life; this is called repentance. Then you will find that the Holy Spirit will lead you in new ways of thinking and behaving. In other words, the change takes place on the inside and produces its effect on the outside. Proverbs tells us that as a person thinks, so that person is. You see, it begins with seeing yourself from God’s perspective. 

Romans 12: 1 (1) Sacrifice yourself (give up your ways) and (2) renew your mind. (repentance, a changed mind). “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

What is His will in this verse? It is to treat you like a son or daughter with access to every blessing in Heaven.

Seeing your Father in Heaven Accurately.

The gospel writer says in 1 John 3:1, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” It is important to avoid making comparisons between your Father in Heaven and earthly fathers. Earthly fathers, try as they may, are all imperfect. On the other hand, your heavenly Father is perfect in every way. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We come to Jesus as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that way.

As Christians, we are new creations! “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. This means we must discard all guilt, shame, and fear of the past. As a new creation, you get to start over again, but even then, the enemy of your soul, the devil, will try to bring up your past. Just tell the devil that the old you is dead, and you are a new creation in Christ Jesus. As a new creation Christian, the devil has no authority or power over you. “Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7. That is a promise, Submit to God first, then resist the devil’s lies, and he will flee.

Closing Example

I read about an example of how your perspective can change your attitude. “In certain parts of Africa, a groom must pay a bride price to a woman’s father in order to marry a woman. Usually, this dowry might be four or five cows. If she is very beautiful or a good cook, her price is six cows. In one village, there was a woman who was very ugly and she was a horrible cook. No one wanted to marry her. But a man came to the village and fell in love with her. He went to her father and said, “I want to marry your daughter; how many cows do you want for her?” The father did not want to ask for much because he knew how ugly she was, but before he could answer, the man said, “I will give you 12 cows for your daughter because I love her.” A few years later, a beautiful woman came back to visit the village. It was the girl who had once been ugly. Once she knew she was worth 12 cows, she became very beautiful. God was willing to pay such a high price for us because to Him we are very valuable.” Anon.

You see, how you see yourself will determine your destiny. I encourage you to see yourself as the Lord sees you, as a son or daughter!