Worth: usefulness or importance, as to the world, to a person, or for a purpose: Your worth to the world is inestimable.
versus
Deserve: to merit, be qualified for, or have a claim to (reward, assistance,
punishment, etc.) because of actions, qualities, or situation: to deserve exile; to deserve charity; a theory that deserves consideration.
This thought has been floating around my head for a few days now. It’s a weird thought.
What is the relationship between my worth and what I deserve? I’m not talking about money here and I’m really not talking about my job at all. I’m thinking about life in general. How do I know the difference between what someone is worth and what they deserve? How do I know what I’m worth vs. what I deserve?
From a biblical perspective, I am worth a lot to God. He gave His Son up to die for me because a relationship with me was worth a lot. As I say all the time, I love my friends and students enough that I would probably die for them if it came down to it… but let my 3 year old boy die for them? Not in a million years! I don’t love them that much. So… in God’s equation I am worth a lot.
From a human perspective "worth" is a difficult thing to measure. We tend to measure that based upon what a person has done/contributed for me or the world or some people. Or, we tend to measure someone’s worth by their ability or inability to gain wealth or something equally measurable. I don’t know how it works for everyone… but in some sick and twisted way I’m imagining little numbers floating around above people’s heads. That person is +300. That person is +2. That person is -15. You could add a second value to that with little stock market arrows that would let the world know if that persons worth is raising or lowering. Kind of a sick visual, eh? This is why I’ve been captured by this. It’s interesting and sick at the same time.
Adam -18 (+3)
Kristen +18 (-1)
Megan +2 (+15)
Paul +9 (+1)
Then there is the other side. What do I deserve? This is where it gets more interesting.
From a biblical perspective, we don’t deserve anything. I’m a Calvinist, I believe in total depravity. When God sees me, not through the lens of Christ, but on my own… He sees a man who has been given every opportunity to not sin… but still struggles because life isn’t that simple. Quite bluntly, the Bible teaches that without Jesus’ action on the cross, as he took the punishment as my substitute, I deserve death.
From a human perspective, I don’t know what I deserve in life. Do I deserve respect? Do I deserve money? Do I deserve anything at all or do I have to earn everything? If yes, why? If no, why not? See… there are different ways to judge what a person deserves. It’s so easy to think of this in monetary terms. From a humans perspective a person deserves "more" if they’ve been loyal or competent or if they can take more or make more, they deserve more. Unions acts as agents of equaling that out in the business world. One person may deserve a 10% raise while another deserves to be fired, but together… they all deserve something… but I don’t want to get distracted on that.
My observation is that a person deserves more if they are loyal. If I am loyal to my wife, I feel I deserve increased love from her. If someone is loyal to the church, I feel they deserve more respect. On and on. But the thought that floats around my head is that number thing again… does each person walk around with an imaginary number above their head? This is what they think they deserve in life.
I remember meeting people who were absolutely off on the "what I deserve" number. I remember employees who barely graduated from high school, who never worked hard a day in their life, who had very little abilities, put out very little effort, had no talent, and yet walked around with a massive "deserve" number above their heads. Guys who made (didn’t earn!) $7/hour couldn’t understand why someone didn’t "discover" them and pay them like Pdiddy.
And I’ve met people who were convinced that they deserved nothing in life… yet they were some of the most precious people I’ve ever met.
In some sick and twisted way I wonder if people are walking around with a big = sign. It would look like this….
W + D = V
My worth plus my "deserve" equals my value.
Man, what would happen if above every single persons head was a visible number. In black, someone’s value would notate that they had positive value to the world. A little green/red stock ticker would update live as someone’s quotient shot up and down during any given moment. In red, someone’s value would let the whole world know that this person had little value to the world around them.
I wonder what my number would be? I wonder how this would effect how people lived their lives. As they worked, as they talked to someone, as they dealt with temptation… what would the world be like if everyone’s value were known? What if someone lied to themselves and tried to decorate their number to be higher than it should? What about the high schooler who had a high value and hid it in shame to appear lower? What about the people who would try to make the red cool?
I don’t know if I want to live in that world. But it’s an interesting thought.
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