Releasing the Worthless and Embracing What Truly Matters

Summary

Many have lost hope and taken their own lives, considering their lives to be of no value. The Apostle Paul laid aside worthless, self-oriented living to embrace God's purpose for his life. Scripture warns believers not to lose their saltiness and become worthless as God's instruments. A life that matters is one spent living for Jesus, who died and rose again for us.

A World Losing Its Sense of Worth

More than 720,000 people in the world take their lives each year, with many more failed attempts. Suicide is the leading cause of death among 15–29-year-olds.1 

Their hope bulb has burned out, and they don’t know how to replace it. They value their lives so little that they end them prematurely. They release the worthless without embracing the worthy.

Paul’s Perspective on a Life of Value

Ironically, their evaluation of their worth is the same as the Apostle Paul’s description of himself apart from carrying out God’s plan for his life. “But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God” (Acts 20:24 NLT).

Paul set aside his agenda to fulfill God’s purpose (Luke 9:23). He released the worthless and embraced the worthy.

The Trap of Self-Absorbed Living

Suicidal individuals are closer to God’s will than the self-absorbed non-suicidal. The latter try to squeeze every possible drop of pleasure from life for themselves. The worthless imprison them.

Losing Saltiness and Becoming Worthless

That is a threat to those who profess to follow Jesus. “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless” (Matthew 5:13 NLT).

Embracing What Truly Matters

Even gaining the entire world is a worthless waste of a life. “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” (Matthew 16:26 NLT). The expected answer is no.

Repentance is renouncing the worthless deeds of evil and darkness to embrace the living God (Acts 14:15, Ephesians 5:11). It is turning from worshipping the creation to the Creator (Romans 1:25), who is worthy of eternal praise (Romans 9:5).

Jesus thinks we are worth dying for. He demonstrated that by dying for everyone. But not so that we could continue to live worthless lives. “He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them” (2 Corinthians 5:15 NLT).

Life’s biggest struggle is releasing the worthless and embracing what truly matters. Where are you on that journey? See additional free spiritual growth resources for Christians.

1.     Suicide

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