Appraisal

Do you know how unbelievably valuable you are?

In God's eyes, you are his beloved child, and He loves you more than you can even comprehend.

You are something to be valued and cherished.

His love for you is unconditional and unending, and there is nothing you can do that will separate you from it.

You can't sin it away, no matter how hard you try.

Believe me, I know.

I could write a novel about the hundreds of times I ran from God, dove into the pit, only to return to God, begging for mercy, all scraped up and tattered.

God has had plenty of opportunities to scold me, shame me, and point His finger as his voice boomed with a wizard-like vibrato, "I told you so."

But God doesn't work that way.

God is not appraising us the way the world does.

Are you in your original packaging? Are you perfect? Do you have any marks or scrapes?

Because to be at the highest value, you must not age. You need to remain young and wrinkle-free and hide any imperfections.

You need to be perfect and not make any mistakes or have any drama. When questioned on the condition, the best appraisals come with an "I'm fine, I'm fine" response.

To have value, you must only show the fake facade to the world.

But that is not how God appraises those He loves.

When He looks at you, He sees Jesus.

He sees all that Jesus went through for you, all He endured and conquered to stand in your place and show you His love.

And from His perspective, nothing can have any more value than that.

God's appraisal of you simply says this: PRICELESS.

God's only expectation of you is that you love Him.

Just as you are.

Wrinkly, worn, tattered, stubborn, sassy, broken, repaired.

God loves every single molecule within you as it is.

There is no need to fake it with God. He's good with your as-is condition,

So, I hereby give you this Certificate of Authenticity.

You are certified as an authentic, one-of-a-kind, worthy, and beloved child of God.

You should hang that on your fridge so you don't forget!

Romans 8: 28-30

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[i] have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

1 Corinthians 1: 30-31

But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God [revealing His plan of salvation], and righteousness [making us acceptable to God], and sanctification [making us holy and setting us apart for God], and redemption [providing our ransom from the penalty for sin],  so then, as it is written [in Scripture], "He who boasts and glories, let him boast and glory in the Lord."

John 3:16

"For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life.