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How much are you worth? Can you really quantify your value to…

Your family?

Your relationships?

Your church?

Your job?

God has created and gifted us all wonderfully and uniquely. No one else can be as good at being you than you!

Psalm 139:13-14 (NKJV)

¹³ For You formed my inward parts;
You ^[a]covered me in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I will praise You, for ^[b]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.

It is our responsibility to recognize, nurture and perfect what God has placed inside of us. And to use it not only to sustain our lives, but to build God’s kingdom and make the world a better place.

Luke 12:48  (NKJV)

⁴⁸ But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

God has created us all with great value!

So much so, that no one should ever be able to pay us what we’re worth.

How much money do you make? What’s your salary? What’s your hourly wage?

Do you feel that’s ALL you’re worth? Do you feel that’s ALL you bring to the table?

We should all be irreplaceable. Not only in your job description but also in the intangibles. There should be a void any time we leave a workplace, relationship, church etc.

Your energy, positivity, love…your very presence should be missed. You should bring those things that can’t be trained or taught. Those things that go beyond experience, such as being the person everyone looks to in a crisis.

Even if they can replace YOU, they should never be able to replace WHAT YOU DO! Anytime you feel you aren’t bringing enough to the table…YOU AREN’T.

We are placed here to be God’s representatives in every environment and relationship we occupy. God blesses us to bring glory to Him through the anointing on our lives, the gifts He’s giving us and the seeds we sow.

And that is priceless.

Now, are you being underpaid?

BE BLESSTIFIED!

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I try my best to refrain from using profanity, obscene or vulgar language because that’s what God told us to do…

Ephesians 4:29  (AMPC)

²⁹ Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it.

But, even if you aren’t willing to admit it, people who make it a point not to ‘cuss’ THINK ‘cuss words’ in certain situations. Here are a few of mine…

1. WHEN I REPEATEDLY BUMP & PROBABLY BREAK MY BABY TOE!

I wonder if anyone else has crushed their baby toe on furniture or anything else as much as me? My toes think they are fingers sometimes, reaching out to make contact or grabbing everything in the room. When this happens, yes, cuss words run through my mind.

2. WHE DRIVING & I LET SOMEONE CROSS THE STREET WHILE JAYWALKING, OR IN A PARKING LOT & THEY TAKE THEIR TIME AS IF I OWE IT TO THEM!

This happens wayyyy to often these days. I’m in a parking lot or driving down the street, and I have the right of way. I see someone walking across my path, and even though I have the right-of-way, I kindly let them go by. But, instead of keeping a good pace or hurrying up, they take their time, face in phone. Then, they don’t even look up to say thanks. In my head are a plethora of ‘cuss words’.

3. WHEN SOMEONE PURPOSEFULLY WAITS TO MERGE IN TRAFFIC AT THE LAST MINUTE AFTER I’VE BEEN WAITING PATIENTLY & THEN LOOK AT ME TO LET THEM IN!

This is one of my pet peeves. Do these people think their time is really more valuable than everyone else’s? We are all in a hurry to get to our destinations. This is why truck drivers will sometimes block one lane of traffic to clear the way and get traffic flowing again. This provokes ‘cuss words’ in my head.

4. WHEN SOMEONE IS GOING BELOW THE SPEED LIMIT IN THE FAST LANE WITH NO ONE TO THE RIGHT OF THEM!

Please move over! Don’t you see all of these cars passing you when they finally get a chance? You have held up traffic for miles going below the speed limit in the fast lane. If I were a police officer, I would pull over these people just as much as speeders…”Cuss words in my mind”.

5. WHEN A GRAVEL TRUCK IS ON THE ROAD FILLED TOO HIGH WITHOUT A TARP!

Yes I see the sign on the back of your truck that says, ”STAY 100 FEET BACK”. Guess what! That doesn’t matter when a piece of gravel bounces off your truck at 60 mph! How about just putting a tarp on it! “Please God forgive me for my thoughts?”

This list is by no means exhaustive. This is why God’s grace and mercy are so valuable, because even though these words don’t come out of my mouth, it is sin to still think them.

What are some of the things that make you ‘cuss in your head’? Be sure and always to ask God to forgive you in the name of Yeshua the Messiah, (Jesus Christ) for your evil thoughts.

Philippians 4:8  (NKJV)

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

The older I get the more I realize that in so many ways, some of us never really grow up. This is especially proven every day in politics and on social media.

We all have our ‘immature’ moments.

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But, when you think about it, it’s not difficult to see how we all sometimes have trouble acting our age.

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Even though we have role models, some better than others, we can still have trouble progressively moving on to our next role in life.

One reason is that ‘Western’ culture not only values youth, but doesn’t value the blessing of getting older. Aging and maturing is looked upon with dread. People hate being told that they are acting like an ‘old man’ or an ‘old woman’.

However, I feel the main reason that people have trouble acting their age is simple…

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As you get older, you’ve never been that age before.

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Young adults have never been an adult before. Unless you were forced to ‘grow up’ through difficulties of life, we have all still been a ‘child’ for most our lives until we’re in our early 30’s.

As you approach middle age, you’ve never been 40 or 50 years old before.

As you become a ‘senior citizen’, you’ve never been 60 years old before.

And, many people who consider themselves ‘elderly’ will tell you that they don’t ‘feel’ as old as they are. Even with more aches and pains their minds don’t feel ‘old’.

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As you get older, that age never seems to be what you though it would be. You don’t suddenly feel older.

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That’s why so many middle-aged and older people get injured during physical activity because they still feel as though they can still be just as athletic as they used to be. They still feel they can work as hard. They still feel they can lift just as much, but sometimes our bodies will let us know that we must make some adjustments. This happened to me when I was 42 years old while playing flag football with several people in their teens, 20’s and 30’s. I was ‘hanging with them’ really well, but after a couple of hours, even though I still felt great, fatigue had set in and I completely ruptured my Achilles tendon.

I learned a valuable lesson. We aren’t always able to do what we feel like doing. Our bodies can remind us how old we really are. Yes, we can maintain a great quality of life through taking care of ourselves, but we still must be realistic.

As we get older, we must mature mentally, physically and most of all spiritually. But, let us learn to be patient with ourselves and one another through the transition.

Corinthians 13:11  (NKJV)

¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

BE BLESSTIFIED!