Sometimes, when life crowds in on us, and when Satan works overtime to put our feelings in the pits, we begin to feel that we’re not worthy of God’s love. Circumstances cause us to feel pressured, even defeated. And Satan tells us that God really doesn’t love us. After all, how could He love someone so unlovely? How could He care about someone whose life has been so wrong? How could He be willing to forgive someone who has made such a mess of things?

When that happens, if we listen to our feelings, we’re likely to end up feeling unworthy, even worthless. If we allow ourselves to believe Satan’s lies, we’re likely to think about giving up in despair. In our minds we can quickly proceed from feeling unlovely, to sensing that we are unloved, to concluding that we are unlovable.

When you begin to feel like that, you must remember that Satan is a liar! He began his regime on earth by lying to Eve, and he’s been lying to unsuspecting human beings ever since. He tells us the exact opposite of the truth. Or he twists the truth to make it seem like a lie. With the devil, things are seldom the way they seem. On the rare occasion when he doesn’t need to twist the facts, he’ll magnify them many times over to that the situation seems much worse than it really is. That’s why we must always evaluate the way we feel in the light of Biblical reality.

In a little booklet on "How to Be Filled With the Spirit," Campus Crusade for Christ published a simple diagram that presents profound truth. The drawing shows an old-fashioned steam train consisting of three units: An engine, a coal car, and a caboose. The engine is labeled "facts." The coal car is labeled "faith." And the caboose is labeled "feelings." Facts are the engine that drives our relationship with God. Faith is the fuel that feeds the engine. And feelings always follow along behind. Our problems arise when we try to pull the train with the caboose. Every time we allow feelings to dominate, to assume control, we’re in trouble. But if we remind ourselves of the facts, then fuel the facts with faith, the train will chug right along, with the proper feelings following close behind.

Remember:

1. Remind yourself of the facts.

2. Put your faith in the facts.

3. Let your feelings flow from faith.

Using the world of art and music as an example, let’s think about the source of your worth as a person. More importantly, let’s think about your value in the heart and mind of God.

The value of an object is often determined by the artist who created it. A painting by Michelangelo, Rembrandt or Picasso has much greater worth than a canvas by an unknown artist. A piece of music by Bach or Beethoven is of much greater value that a tune by someone whose name we’ve never heard.

Remember this fact: You are the work of God Almighty. He created you, and your life is the direct result of His plans for you. According to Psalm 139:16 in the Living Bible, God saw you before you was born and scheduled each day of your life before you began to breathe. You are the work of the Master Artist. It was He who created each of the artists so admired by the world. Therefore, His work is far greater, far more beautiful, and far more valuable than all of their work combined. And you are His work!

An original work is far more valuable that a copy. When artists finish an original painting, they often have a series of numbered prints made. The copy you buy may be number 371 out of a total printing of 2000. (That’s what the mark "371/2000" in the lower right hand corner of the print means.) The numbered print will cost only a small fraction of what the original painting might sell for. Likewise, buying a piece of printed sheet music is nothing like buying the original manuscript, written by the composer’s own hand and identified by his signature. The difference in value is enormous.

Here’s another important fact: You are not a copy. You are a one-of-a-kind original. If God had stamped out people like cookies out of a tin cutter, you might have cause to doubt your worth. If you were just one out of thousands of others like you, you wouldn’t be so valuable. But God has never created another person just like you.

The more rare an object, the greater its worth. When paintings are sold at auction, most of them sell for a few dollars. Occasional-ly, however, a rare painting will sell for an astronomical sum. What makes the difference? The expensive painting is the work of a master artist, and there isn’t another painting like it anywhere in the world. When a rare painting is discovered, it will go at auction for sums that most people can barely imagine.

Here’s another exciting fact: You are absolutely unique, there isn’t a single other person in the world who is just like you. Your fingerprints are original, as is your voice print, the structure of your teeth, and your DNA. God has put His stamp of creativity on your life to create an individual who cannot be duplicated. That gives you tremendous worth!

The ultimate worth of an object is determined by the price paid for it. When paintings, or music, or antiques are sold at auction, their ultimate value is set by the price someone is willing to pay to obtain them. A rare piece of sheet music is worth $10,000 because someone is willing to pay that amount for it. A rare painting is worth $10,000,000 because someone else is willing to bid that high.

Here’s the most incredible fact of all: God paid the highest amount ever paid in human history to purchase you for His own possession. Two thousand years ago an auction was held at a place called Mount Calvary. God and the devil were the only bidders because the stakes were too high for anyone else to participate. You were the object for sale, and God purchased you by paying for you with the life of His only Son. Jesus died to obtain your soul for God. That gives you an incalculable value!

Rare objects of great value are treated with special care. The valuable piece of sheet music is placed under glass. The rare painting is placed in a climate controlled room where nothing can do it harm.

Here’s a final fact to remember: Having purchased you, God takes an intimate personal interest in you. He’s not going to allow anything to happen to His most precious possession. (That’s you!) Because God gave the ultimate price for your redemption (to buy you back out of sin), He’s going to hold on to you, care for you and protect you even more lovingly and carefully that the most avid art collector would care for the most valuable painting in the world. You are the object of God’s intense and personal concern. He has His eye on you every moment. Because you were bought with the blood of His Son, He always looks on you lovingly – and He likes what He sees!

When Satan lies to you about your worth in the eyes of God, remind yourself of the facts. God created you. He made you unique, one-of-a-kind. He loves you. He gave His Son to die for you. He considers you His most valuable possession. And He watches out over you with the most intense interest and personal concern. Don’t buy the lie that you are unworthy and worthless. You may not deserve all that God has done for you, but that doesn’t change the fact that God did it. He did it because, in His eyes, you are a person of incredible worth! And that’s the truth!