What are you worth?
Far more than you can fathom.
But where do we find our worth?
From knowing and being known by the Creator and Savior of the world Jesus.
And yet the world tells us different.
In a recent conversation, a mom mentioned her twelve-year-old son had issues at school. Not academic or with bullies. His problem was aggressive, desperate-for-attention girls. The first day of school, he was surrounded by girls. They grabbed for his hands and arms and each begged him to be her boyfriend. This same boy told his mom about Instagram photos where young women post pictures of themselves and ask boys to rate their date-ability and desirability. Others send him pictures of pregnant women and ask if he thinks it is sexy and if he wants that for himself. In case you missed it, these girls are around 12.
What is happening to our girls?
- They base their worth on the external and on what people tell them.
- They are afraid to be alone.
- The media they watch, hear, and read tells them purity is worthless and love must be grabbed.
- They believe sexy is beauty and sex is love.
- They think worth is in popularity.
- They grasp at external measures to fill up the part of their soul longing for love.
And what is influencing their worth?
At a recent MomLife Today event, Dannah Gresh spoke about the need for women of all ages to become lost in Jesus. Our deepest need is to know and be known by Jesus. The sexual union within marriage is a picture of this deep, intimate relationship we should have with God, NOT a replacement. The problem is that we try to fill our soul with the counterfeits of this world: boys, sex, materialism, power, external sources of self-worth, popularity, and more. And we are left broken.
Media packages these counterfeit messages into shiny boxes and bombards girls with negative images:
- Beer commercials often portray “ideal” girls as sexy and easy.
- Underwear retailers advertise skimpy, sexy padded bras and thongs for young girls. The message is sexuality is powerful and should be wielded like a weapon. Being and acting sexy is what makes you something to be desired.
- The Twilight book and movie series features romantic vampire interest Edward in the position of a demigod. Bella, the lowly human, is more than willing to give up her soul in order to be with him forever. He is her everything. He is her god.
- The popular tween/teen retail stores feature clothing and jewelry lines dedicated to the 50 Shades of Grey erotica book series. Shades apparently uses a similar set up to the Twilight books with a very handsome powerful rich man vs. an ordinary girl who thinks she is not worthy of him because he is so wonderful, however, 50 Shades adds explicit, erotic content that includes a warped sexual relationship.(I have not read the books, but it sounds like the girl is willing to give up her soul for this man, too.)
This is what is being marketed to our teens. Don’t you think that is enough? Oh, but there is more…
- The popular TV shows young girls are watching with their mothers perpetuate the identity crisis faced by girls today. Vampire Diaries feature demigod vampires and other supernatural creatures. Teens drink alcohol profusely, even at parties their parents host, characters hop in and out of bed, and people return from the dead through witchcraft rituals (although there is no mention of Heaven or Hell). Characters murder and drink blood–sometimes out of crystal glasses. Worth is found in eternal youth, passionate sexual relationships, “hot vamp sex,” looking/being sexy, and power.
- Mainstream music often tells the same stories with rock stars portraying women as sexual and recreational objects. Female music “idols” shoot videos in cages wearing almost no clothing and sing about the sexual predator living inside them. And almost everyone wants to party themselves into oblivion.
- Did you also know there are a number of popular Young Adult book series that feature characters who conjure demons in order to control them (as if that were possible), teens engaging in erotic homo and heterosexual activities with multiple partners, and lots of blood. The results are rarely guilt, remorse, or the deep need for grace from a savior, unless that savior comes in the form of a demigod vampire or other dark creature.
The world tells us we are worthless unless we are all these things and more: popular, sexy, powerful, wealthy, in a sexual relationship (no matter how short-term), and grabbing all the fun we can before we die.
Please hear me. There is nothing on earth that can give you worth. No human, no relationship, no purchase, and no amount of power. Nothing. It is a deception.
Only God can fill our souls.
And in God’s heart, you are worth more than you can imagine. You are worth Jesus’ torturous death on the cross. You are worth God’s patience through thousands of years of terrible sins, just so you could be born and come to know your Savior. And only in the Savior’s arms will you find that worth.
More on this Topic…
- Downloads You are Worthy, Relationships, Redefining Beauty.
- Use Plugged In for TV, game, music, and movie reviews.
- Grab a copy of Get Lost by Dannah Gresh
There is so much truth to what you have said here, Jennifer! It’s so hard to be a parent in today’s world surrounded by all that media. I am so grateful we do not have cable and my kids have limited exposure to those advertisements, shows, etc. They’re young now and I’m sure it will be harder to limit that exposure once they’re older, but my hope is to raise them with a solid foundation in Jesus. I pray they stand on His foundation as they enter the world and are tempted to stray from God’s path before them.