What Are You Worth?

 "Oh, what a beautiful mornin'

 Oh, what a beautiful day

 I've got a beautiful feeling

 Everything's going my way…” *   

 

As has happened many times, I couldn’t seem to stop myself from singing that very familiar song this morning as Fiver had stopped to sniff at a particularly interesting patch of grass on our morning walk along the golf course in our neighborhood.  With a sunny, deep blue, cloudless sky, temperatures in the mid-forties and a gentle northeast wind, there was simply no way that I could hold back my contentedness found in the quiet hours of the day near my new home.

My Mom had a love for music and it would be difficult for me to remember a time when the big Hi-Fi in the kitchen, and later the stereo in living room, wasn’t setting the atmosphere in the house with the sounds of everything from the classics of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Dean Martin, to the up-and-coming singers of the 60’s and ‘70’s that she enjoyed like Perry Como, Andy Williams and Johnny Mathis.  And there were others like the majestic voice of Mario Lanza, and as we kids got older, the rock sounds of The Beatles, The Dave Clark Five, The Monkees and of course my favorite band, Creedence Clearwater Revival!

But she also had a special fondness for show tunes, so I therefore got to be very familiar with the lead tunes from many of the popular musicals that were produced during my childhood years.  I may not have seen or even enjoyed the musicals I saw… but I sure did remember the songs from the albums that Mom played and sang along with throughout the day!

After Piper and I moved into my Grandmother’s home, she would laughingly tell me when I returned home from my swing shift job at Hewlett Packard, about our older neighbor who would sing famous showtunes while washing dishes in the evening (with her kitchen window wide open and pointing directly to Josh’s room) and unknowingly regale Piper and our first-born son with her very boisterous Ethel Merman style voice!  And no-matter how tired or burned out I was from my job, Piper’s vivid and comical impersonations of our neighbor ALWAYS got me laughing and quickly forget the stress of my day!

And speaking of Piper… I happened across a picture on Saturday morning that fell out of our wedding photo album when I pulled it out to look for a picture to post with the blog I had just finished writing.  It took me by surprise as I have looked through that book many times over the last year and never remember seeing the 5X7 black and white photo of Piper and I that was taken on an outing soon after we got married.  It was one of the many self-portraits that I had taken over the years with my Minolta SRT101, employing the self-timer and tripod.  I could also tell by the unique formatting of the print, that I had developed it as well, in my personal darkroom.

That funny picture of us on a hike somewhere, captivated me for the rest of the weekend.  I was moved to laughter with the look on Piper’s face and embarrassed at the same time, by the tank top, that were popular at the time, that I had on!  I jokingly sent a copy of the picture to our kids and told them that this picture (because of Piper’s youthfulness) was proof of why the Berruto kids tend to look younger than they actually are (with her pigtails, Piper looked a lot younger than her 22 years) and was also proof of what a stud I was (& therefore the real reason Piper went for me… He! He!).

But all laughter aside… The more I looked at the picture, the more I realized just how much Piper loved and cared for me.  I tend to write a lot in my blog about how special she was to me, but the truth be told… she also shared that same depth of closeness and affection toward me.  We really made quite a good team that included an ever-increasing foundation of love, trust and respect for one another.  To me, the look in her eyes in that photo, said it all.

As I pondered all this throughout the weekend, I came to realize how the devil tried his best, throughout the last years of Piper’s life, to get me to give in to a sense of personal self-worthlessness.  And while I NEVER did yield to his suggestions, I could clearly see how he used different individuals to either knowingly or unknowingly, say and do things behind my back that inferred that I was careless and wrong in many of the decisions and actions I was not only taking in Piper’s care at that time, but also with other activities that I had pursued over the years of our marriage. 

But it dawned on me that I NEVER ever considered questioning what I did for my wife in her time of need.  I NEVER really thought about it.  I knew that she needed me and that was my biggest responsibility as her husband… and I just did whatever God and I thought was best… no matter what it took… or where it took us!  And the look in Piper’s eyes in that picture taken very early in our marriage, confirms the whys of it all!  She was simply worth everything to me… and me to her!

I looked up some verses of scripture this morning to see what the Lord has to say about self-worth and came across Luke 12:6 where Jesus said, “What is the value of your soul to God? Could your worth be defined by an amount of money? God doesn’t abandon or forget even the small sparrow he has made. How then could he forget or abandon you? What about the seemingly minor issues of your life? Do they matter to God? Of course they do! So you never need to worry, for you are more valuable to God than anything else in this world. (The Passion Translation)

When we take Jesus’ words to heart, we understand that someone else’s thoughts about our personal self-worth doesn’t really matter at all!  Our self-worth should not be based on our financial stability, the size of our house, the type of car we drive, the job we have, the food we eat or even the clothes that we wear… like my tank top in the picture!  According to Jesus Himself, all that really matters is knowing that we are more valuable to God than anything else in the whole world!  Now, that’s an opinion that I can agree with… wouldn’t you?

In Romans 12:3, the Apostle Paul encourages us to “honestly assess your (self) worth by using your God-given faith as the standard of measurement, and then you will see your true value with an appropriate self-esteem.” (The Passion Translation)  We see here once again, that our personal, active and NOW faith has a lot to do with our own appreciation of just how much we are worth.

In his first letter, Peter tells us that “as believers you know his (Jesus') great worth—indeed, his preciousness is imparted to you.” (The Passion Translation)  That all important statement tells us that Jesus’ own level of self-worth has also been imparted to you and me!  Like WOW!

So, yes… While I got a tremendous boost in my personal self-worth through that funny expression and the loving eyes of Piper, as she looked up to me in demonstration of just how vitally important I was to her, I also realized the special place of personal worth and vital importance that I hold in God’s eyes! 

You know… when push-comes-to-shove, it doesn’t really matter what other people think of us at any given time or place… the only thing that should hold any weight in the matter of our self-worth… is what God thinks of us! 

Wouldn’t you agree?

Have a great week and as you do, keep expecting God’s best for you!  REMEMBER… that after all is said and done… that you are worth your weight in gold to Him!

 

*Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’' | Gordon MacRae | Rodgers & Hammerstein's OKLAHOMA! (1955 Film)