Of Great Worth

“I’m worthless.” That’s what my son told me last night, and it is a sentiment he has expressed on occasion when feeling down about himself and the things happening in his life. I struggle to know how to help him see that this is not true, that he is of great worth. This is what the Lord said about our worth: “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.” He then explained at least one reason why we are of great worth: “For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him. And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance” (Doctrine and Covenants 18:10-12). Because of the great—even infinite—price that the Savior paid to redeem us, suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross and rising from the dead again, we are of infinite worth to Him. In our secular world, our material possessions are worth only what someone will pay for them. The worth of our house, for example, is based upon what people are currently paying for similar houses in the same area. And so too we are worth what someone was willing to pay for us, and the price that the Savior paid for us is beyond our comprehension: “Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:18). We are “precious in [His] sight” because He has redeemed us and loved us more than we can comprehend (Isaiah 43:4).    

            I love the way that Sister Jennifer Kearon spoke about our worth to a group of young adults a few years ago. She said this, “Those of you who struggle with it need to hear it often and be reassured of your infinite worth, which is entirely unconnected to your attainments but intrinsically linked to your relationship with God. What does infinite mean? Unlimited, boundless, without end. Each of you is of unlimited, boundless, endless worth. To whom? To the person who metaphorically calls you names on the playground? No. You are of unlimited, boundless, endless worth to your Father in Heaven, the One who knows you best, no matter what anyone else might think or say about you. Just let the beauty and stillness of that truth weigh on your soul for a moment.” She continued, “Your Father in Heaven loves you, whoever you are, whatever you are struggling with. You are enough. You are enough. He loves you just the way you are, right here, right now, in all your beautiful messiness. But He also loves you enough not to let you stay the way you are right here, right now. He has much bigger plans for you! You are ‘heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ,’ and so you must continue to learn to keep the commandments, make mistakes, grow, struggle, and change, until you reach your divine potential, refined and purified—and some eternal day perfected—through the grace of Christ.” Ultimately it is through the goodness of Christ that we can become like our Father, and it His grace that helps us to see now who we are and who we can become. Part of the reason I believe my son calls himself worthless is because of his perfectionism, and so when he falls short he feels like complete failure. But the message of the gospel is that it is Christ that perfects us—we don’t have to do it on our own—and His grace gives us worth and hope to be even as God is. The Book of Mormon ends with this very teaching: “If ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot” (Moroni 10:33). We are of great worth because of Him, and His grace allows us to be “holy, without spot” as we come unto Him.