What's Your Value???

Someone on my job posted this and I just knew I had to share it with you.

Twenty Dollars- Author Unknown
A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you- but first let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the $20 note up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.
"Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" He dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?" Still the hands went up into the air.
"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless; but no matter what happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.
Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who love you. the worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by...Who we are. You are special- don't ever forget it.

Of course, I read this with my spiritual eyes. I began to think about how God created us. We sin each and every day, but God refuses to turn his back to us. We mistreat Him and others, yet He still chooses to love us. We don't love ourselves at times, but God still does. Just like those people who saw the value in that bill, God sees the value in us. He created us, so He knows exactly what we are worth, even when we can't see it.
When we don't see our worth with spiritual eyes, we allow people to mistreat us. We allow ourselves to live in fear. We allow our joy to be stolen by such things as negativity and depression. We must pray and ask God to help us see our value and worth the way that He does.
Our value and our worth become apparent to us when we recognize and realize what our purpose in life is. When we know why God created us, what calling He has on our lives, and what our role is in building His kingdom, our value and worth become more visible to us.
We spend so much time focusing on all of the things that have gone wrong in our lives. Just like the author wrote, many things may happen in our lives, but we must focus on our main purpose.
It is my belief that being crumpled, stepped on, mistreated, hurt, torn, and ground into the dirt only adds more value to my life. It gives me a testimony! It enables me to help someone who is unable to help them self when going through the storm just like I did.
God takes us through things for our good. His goal is not only to teach us a lesson, but also to help us see our worth in Him. He wants to strengthen us and make us draw closer to Him. It is then that we can see what we are worth!
With a humble heart, I know that I am worth having joy, peace, and love in my life. I know that I am worthy of those things because my Father created me! And, unlike that $20 bill, whose worth is only so much, I know that my worth is priceless because of who my Father is, and because of His purpose and plans for my life. That is pure love!
So, when I am crumpled, stepped on, hurt, bruised, torn, and even have the feeling of defeat, I shall rejoice because I know that I will not depreciate my value, but I will only be strengthened me for my Father's purpose. Thank you Lord for showing me the value that you see in me.