{ Worth} More Precious Than Rubies

Written by: Melanie Pickett

I’m a writer and a blogger. That means social media is a pretty significant part of my every day world. We see a lot on social media: happiness, fitness journeys, fashion, relationship success, great report cards. Many social media outlets are a sort-of scrapbook of the highlights of our lives.

They’re wonderful for keeping up with old friends and new and family, displaying pictures and being able to be part of loved ones’ lives from afar.

But social media can also be only the highlights reel—only showing the happy and good aspects–and that can leave many people feeling left out and “less than”. We look at others’ lives and start wondering what we’re doing wrong that we don’t have such a fabulous home, car, wardrobe, or mate.

I remember when I first started out writing online and launched my Facebook writer page and Twitter. When I’d look at other writers’ pages, I’d feel a pang of inferiority when I’d see several hundred or several thousand page likes. There I was, just praying to reach one-hundred. Look at them with thousands of followers, all those people who think they’re great and are reading every word they write. I was envious and deflated, thinking nobody will ever adore my writing like that.

We often scroll through our feed and see what appears to be perfect couples with perfect families who have perfectly tidy homes, excellent jobs, lavish vacations, new cars, Pinterest-worthy birthday parties, and we feel like the less than.

We start to wonder if there’s something wrong with us if we don’t feel head-over-heels in love with our spouse every second; or if we’re bad parents if our kids don’t get all A’s or if we’re single. We wonder if maybe we’re failures if we struggle to pay some bills or if we can’t take a vacation this year (or last year) or if our car has a little rust on it.

If we post something and only get a couple of likes, those thoughts go through our heads that people don’t think we’re pretty or that our life is less than interesting or…maybe people don’t really even like us at all!

It feels like one giant popularity contest sometimes. But take heart, friend. Our worth was never and will never be in social media or what we have or even in what people think of us. Our worth is in Jesus. He determined how priceless we are when He died on the cross long before we ever existed. Jesus was thinking of us when He hung agonizingly on the cross. He died for all of us, but He would have died for just one of us. Let that sink in and truly absorb that.

A quick search can show us dozens of verses in the Bible showing God’s love for us and some even specifically speak to our invaluable worth. One of my favorites is “She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.” Proverbs 3:15.

Next time you or a friend is feeling “less than”, I challenge you (and myself) to look up Bible verses about worth. Check out your real worth, what God says it is. He knows us intimately and He made us, knit us together before we were born and was equipping us for the calls He has on our lives. You are precious in His sight, and please don’t ever forget that.

Be encouraged,

Melanie

Melanie Pickett is a writer, blogger, and speaker who uses her words and domestic violence experience to educate and encourage others about healthy relationships and knowing their worth. Melanie is currently completing her first nonfiction book and contributes at Defying Shadows and is an entertainment editor at Sonoma Christian Home. Melanie’s work has been featured on The Mighty, HuffPost, BlogHer, Splickety Magazine, and Whole Magazine. Melanie calls west Michigan home where she enjoys life with her two teenage children, her husband, and a black pug named Gracie.