Infinite Worth

[drtanner]

Elder Christofferson shared this on Facebook. I love getting little glimpses of Christ’s capacity to love all shapes and sizes with reminders like this.

I don't believe I've ever met anybody who didn't want to belong to something that made them feel worthwhile, that made them feel that they had value.
When people wonder “Is there a place for me in the church?” there may be any number of things behind that. And now they ask themselves, “Do I fit? Do I belong here? Do they really need me?” And I want to say emphatically, “Yes.”
I understand people's feelings at times that they may not be needed. And sometimes others are guilty of saying, “We don't need this person. We don't need that person. We're fine as we are.” Neither one is true. That's not the Christian way. That's not the way Christ sees us. He sees all of us with infinite worth, and whatever our condition at the moment may be, the body of Christ is there to sustain each member.
Each of us, whenever the feeling of isolation may come upon us, needs to stop and think, “Jesus Christ died for me. Jesus Christ thought me worthy of His blood. And He loves me, He has hopes for me, and He can make a difference in my life. His grace can transform me. And maybe this person sitting next to me, ignoring me or even wanting to move away, maybe he or she doesn't. But that doesn't change the reality of what Christ feels toward me and the possibilities I have in Christ.”
It breaks my heart if someone comes and is very vulnerable and says, “I want to try it, I want to be here,” and then gets a cold shoulder or a lack of interest. And that's tragic. We have to be better than that.

[abijah]

My heart breaks when people genuinely think they are not worth anything. My only conclusion is that they do not understand in Who’s image they were made, and what destiny this enables them to have

[brianj]

My heart breaks when people genuinely think they are not worth anything. My only conclusion is that they do not understand in Who’s image they were made, and what destiny this enables them to have

Your conclusion appears to be based in ignorance. Do you know what it's like to be incessantly bullied? To be ignored and treated like you don't matter, or worse, actively treated worse than garbage? To want things everybody around you seems to have such as a home of your own or a nice vacation, to have bad things happen any time you get close to one of those goals keeping it out of your reach, then to have the people around you at church alternate between mocking you for not having those things and mocking you for feeling bad that you can't achieve those things? I could go on.

It's easy to accept the abstract concept of being a son or daughter of God, created in His image to become heirs to all He has, but when you have people around you completely devoted to telling you how worthless you are on a frequent basis, when a low self esteem is a burden you were given, having someone tell you that you're a son of God doesn't help any more than someone telling a clinically depressed individual to just cheer up.

[drtanner]

My heart breaks when people genuinely think they are not worth anything. My only conclusion is that they do not understand in Who’s image they were made, and what destiny this enables them to have

Your conclusion appears to be based in ignorance. Do you know what it's like to be incessantly bullied? To be ignored and treated like you don't matter, or worse, actively treated worse than garbage? To want things everybody around you seems to have such as a home of your own or a nice vacation, to have bad things happen any time you get close to one of those goals keeping it out of your reach, then to have the people around you at church alternate between mocking you for not having those things and mocking you for feeling bad that you can't achieve those things? I could go on.

It's easy to accept the abstract concept of being a son or daughter of God, created in His image to become heirs to all He has, but when you have people around you completely devoted to telling you how worthless you are on a frequent basis, when a low self esteem is a burden you were given, having someone tell you that you're a son of God doesn't help any more than someone telling a clinically depressed individual to just cheer up.

Brian, I am so sorry for the way it sounds many have treated you and what you have had to carry. Truly most of us are ignorant to what it must feel like to experience these things. After thinking about your response I can see how a comment to someone struggling along the lines that if they only understood who they were it would solve there issues may be hurtful or come off the wrong way. Although well intentioned there is so much that goes into depressions and other phycological challenges that create difficulties for some to even begin to feel that truly we need to be a sensitive and loving as possible when attempting to help. Thank you for this reminder and I wish you nothing but hope, love, and eventual rest through the Saviors grace.

[eddie]

One of Satan's goals is to make us forget who we are. For me, being taught I am a child of God, erased the awful and mean things I endured
from a parent with Borderline Personality Disorder. It has been an on-going struggle, with counseling, study, medicine, etc., but I learned what I was being told was wrong. I have infinite worth and nobody can take that away from me...

Jesus Christ knows our mortal challenges, He suffered them, He understands them, He willingly experienced them, and He knows how to succor us.

[Juliet]

We all need friends to remind us of our worth. Even Jesus had friends. It isn't enough to tell people they are of worth. We have to have strong relationships to protect us against instability. Even pets can get this, they can cuddle up with us when we are sad. Why do animals understand the importance of social emotional support better than we humans do?

I was thinking about how having a baby is all work that occurs on the inside. You can't even see the work that is going on to create that baby. That is what women in general used to do. They used to be home to care about the emotional atmosphere of the home and provide emotional support. What they did was unseen, working on matters of the heart.

At some point, making money became more important than love.

I think because women have abandoned their role of nurturing we have put money above love and humanity. Now we are all addicted to something because we still need to be loved and valued but no one is home who cares.

Saying you are loved without providing actual loving relationships is like looking at a picture of food when you are hungry and saying that is good enough.

[Crackers]

I agree. I married into a family that has been only superficially accepting of me from the start, likely because I have different ideas, priorities and talents from them. After so many years of being on the outskirts, it can wear on a person. And when you aren't receiving positive reinforcement, and do receive a certain amount of negative feedback, it becomes hard to rely strictly on the Savior to remember and understand your individual and infinite worth. When you don't see the Savior's love for you mirrored to some degree in those from whom you would expect it, it can be confusing and depressing. Try to be that person who reflects the Savior's love to others. There have been several times when someone has shared a kind word with me or made a positive comment on something I had done, and it has helped me to shake off the cold, wet-blanket-feeling that I had been feeling from too much family time. It just takes little things sometimes.

[abijah]

My heart breaks when people genuinely think they are not worth anything. My only conclusion is that they do not understand in Who’s image they were made, and what destiny this enables them to have

Your conclusion appears to be based in ignorance. Do you know what it's like to be incessantly bullied? To be ignored and treated like you don't matter, or worse, actively treated worse than garbage? To want things everybody around you seems to have such as a home of your own or a nice vacation, to have bad things happen any time you get close to one of those goals keeping it out of your reach, then to have the people around you at church alternate between mocking you for not having those things and mocking you for feeling bad that you can't achieve those things? I could go on.

It's easy to accept the abstract concept of being a son or daughter of God, created in His image to become heirs to all He has, but when you have people around you completely devoted to telling you how worthless you are on a frequent basis, when a low self esteem is a burden you were given, having someone tell you that you're a son of God doesn't help any more than someone telling a clinically depressed individual to just cheer up.

So I need to be bullied incessantly to not be ignorant about being a child of God? You do me wrong, there's nowhere in my post that said people need to just buck up. Not sure where that assumption came from.

I sympathise with those who've had these awful experiences, but I also understand that this is what the Atonement is for. I haven't been bullied but you don't know my problems, my hardships and struggles. I need the Atonement just as much as anyone.

[eddie]

My heart breaks when people genuinely think they are not worth anything. My only conclusion is that they do not understand in Who’s image they were made, and what destiny this enables them to have

Your conclusion appears to be based in ignorance. Do you know what it's like to be incessantly bullied? To be ignored and treated like you don't matter, or worse, actively treated worse than garbage? To want things everybody around you seems to have such as a home of your own or a nice vacation, to have bad things happen any time you get close to one of those goals keeping it out of your reach, then to have the people around you at church alternate between mocking you for not having those things and mocking you for feeling bad that you can't achieve those things? I could go on.

It's easy to accept the abstract concept of being a son or daughter of God, created in His image to become heirs to all He has, but when you have people around you completely devoted to telling you how worthless you are on a frequent basis, when a low self esteem is a burden you were given, having someone tell you that you're a son of God doesn't help any more than someone telling a clinically depressed individual to just cheer up.

So I need to be bullied incessantly to not be ignorant about being a child of God? You do me wrong, there's nowhere in my post that said people just need to just buck up. Not sure where that assumption came from.

I sympathise with those who've had these awful experiences, but I also understand that this is what the Atonement is for. I haven't been bullied but you don't know my problems, my hardships and struggles. I need the Atonement just as much as anyone.

Exactly, that's what I was trying to say. I think about How Christ was treated...

Jesus.jpg (53.74 KiB) Viewed 490 times

[brianj]

My heart breaks when people genuinely think they are not worth anything. My only conclusion is that they do not understand in Who’s image they were made, and what destiny this enables them to have

Your conclusion appears to be based in ignorance. Do you know what it's like to be incessantly bullied? To be ignored and treated like you don't matter, or worse, actively treated worse than garbage? To want things everybody around you seems to have such as a home of your own or a nice vacation, to have bad things happen any time you get close to one of those goals keeping it out of your reach, then to have the people around you at church alternate between mocking you for not having those things and mocking you for feeling bad that you can't achieve those things? I could go on.

It's easy to accept the abstract concept of being a son or daughter of God, created in His image to become heirs to all He has, but when you have people around you completely devoted to telling you how worthless you are on a frequent basis, when a low self esteem is a burden you were given, having someone tell you that you're a son of God doesn't help any more than someone telling a clinically depressed individual to just cheer up.

So I need to be bullied incessantly to not be ignorant about being a child of God? You do me wrong, there's nowhere in my post that said people need to just buck up. Not sure where that assumption came from.

I sympathise with those who've had these awful experiences, but I also understand that this is what the Atonement is for. I haven't been bullied but you don't know my problems, my hardships and struggles. I need the Atonement just as much as anyone.

I have no idea how you interpreted my post as you did. What makes you think I said you need to be bullied to not be ignorant about being a child of God? I said quite the opposite, that when you are incessantly bullied and surrounded by people who take pleasure in crushing my self esteem that it is extremely difficult to accept the idea of being a son of God as anything more than an abstract concept.

The post I was responding to implied that if you don't have a healthy sense of self worth then you just don't understand whose image you were created in. My response was an attempt to say that it isn't as easy as you make it out to be.

[eddie]

My heart breaks when people genuinely think they are not worth anything. My only conclusion is that they do not understand in Who’s image they were made, and what destiny this enables them to have

Your conclusion appears to be based in ignorance. Do you know what it's like to be incessantly bullied? To be ignored and treated like you don't matter, or worse, actively treated worse than garbage? To want things everybody around you seems to have such as a home of your own or a nice vacation, to have bad things happen any time you get close to one of those goals keeping it out of your reach, then to have the people around you at church alternate between mocking you for not having those things and mocking you for feeling bad that you can't achieve those things? I could go on.

It's easy to accept the abstract concept of being a son or daughter of God, created in His image to become heirs to all He has, but when you have people around you completely devoted to telling you how worthless you are on a frequent basis, when a low self esteem is a burden you were given, having someone tell you that you're a son of God doesn't help any more than someone telling a clinically depressed individual to just cheer up.

So I need to be bullied incessantly to not be ignorant about being a child of God? You do me wrong, there's nowhere in my post that said people need to just buck up. Not sure where that assumption came from.

I sympathise with those who've had these awful experiences, but I also understand that this is what the Atonement is for. I haven't been bullied but you don't know my problems, my hardships and struggles. I need the Atonement just as much as anyone.

I have no idea how you interpreted my post as you did. What makes you think I said you need to be bullied to not be ignorant about being a child of God? I said quite the opposite, that when you are incessantly bullied and surrounded by people who take pleasure in crushing my self esteem that it is extremely difficult to accept the idea of being a son of God as anything more than an abstract concept.

The post I was responding to implied that if you don't have a healthy sense of self worth then you just don't understand whose image you were created in. My response was an attempt to say that it isn't as easy as you make it out to be.

I believe you were responding to my post. Did I make it out to be easy? It is never easy, I'm sorry I appeared to say that. My life has not been easy, I've experienced most of the things you expressed, I won't go into the details, but I will tell you to hang on Brianj!

Richard G. Scott;
" Simple, rejuvenating experiences surround us. They can be safety valves to keep the tension down and the spirit up. Don’t concentrate on what you don’t have or have lost. The Lord promised the obedient to share all that He possesses with them. You may temporarily lack here, but in the next life, if you prove yourself worthy by living valiantly, a fulness will be your blessing.

Find the compensatory blessings in your life when, in the wisdom of the Lord, He deprives you of something you very much want. To the sightless or hearing impaired, He sharpens the other senses. To the ill, He gives patience, understanding, and increased appreciation for others’ kindness. With the loss of a dear one, He deepens the bonds of love, enriches memories, and kindles hope in a future reunion. You will discover compensatory blessings when you willingly accept the will of the Lord and exercise faith in Him.6

To the afflicted people of Alma, the Lord said: “I will also ease the burdens … that even you cannot feel them upon your backs … ; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

“And … the burdens … were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord” (Mosiah 24:13–15).