I Value You

The thought of valuation has been in my mind these past couple of days. Well, lots of things have been in my mind, but the word "value" has been pretty strong coming again and again.

The word value means : relative worth, merit, or importance.

As a Finance student, a majority of our lessons is learning how to value stocks, shares, bonds etc. We have all sorts of financial models to attempt to price a security, purchase it and hope it makes returns. But I'm not too sure how to value everything else in real-life.

One thing I regret not doing while growing up was going shopping more often. Okay, shopping has its negatives but also its positives. To be honest, I've barely been shopping, you might even calculate the number of hours I spent shopping before I turned 21 in my life by the fingers I have on my hands. I could name a couple of reasons, but I think I was just simply too addicted to computer games that I couldn't care about the world.

Yeah, why is shopping good? I guess to me, it gives me the knowledge of valuing something. Haha, if you ask me now, who dresses me. I would give you my honest answer. My mom still dresses me. Although it might sound embarresing but it's the truth. As 95% of my wardrobe my mom bought for me. But I guess I'm slowly learning to buy my own clothes now, although difficult due to monetary limitations, but yeah, I'm slowly learning.

Hence I'm actually pretty much brand and clothes oblivious. I could walk into a girls clothes shop, look at a jacket, think its a guys jacket. Lol. I did that a couple of times, thankfully with Je-Yon, who went "John, do you know your in a girls shop?". I was like "of course i did", which I was lying. Lol. But yeah. I am unable to differentiate brands, clothes. I could be wearing girls clothes if my mom didn't dress me. Thank God for mothers~! I probably need to find a girlfriend who knows how to dress me!!

But the biggest bummer is not so much brands, but being able to value its worth. That is what gets on my nerve. I don't know enough that when I buy for example a jacket, it could be worth $100. But you could probably con me for $500. I don't know if its just simply lack of exposure or the ability to discern, but it just confounds me sometimes when I hear my friends, especially those who are rich enough to afford it but still say "its too expensive". I think thats something I'll need to re-learn. How to value clothes, how to value everything from cars, paintings, and just simply everything in totality. Which I think its true as we are stewards of God's money. God has given us his money, everything is His, but he gives us the responsibility and freedom of choice to use it wisely.

Something might COST alot. But doesn't mean it is WORTH alot. Something may be WORTH alot, doesn't necessariy COST alot. It's how you VALUE it.

And I want to learn to value things. One of the silliest but painful lessons I had recently was destroying a nice white t-shirt which I bought. The ink of another shirt ran and totally ruined my nice white t-shirts. Although it's only $20. But it felt painful because I bought it with my own money, and I truly liked the shirt. So thats the other flipside of valuing, not only you know how to discern, but also you treasure it, you want to take good care of it.

There is a mental note on things we have. Like if you dress cheap, you'll feel cheap. If you download stuff off the internet, you'll treat the real thing cheaply. The world loves to perpetuate the notion that you can have instantanious pleasure. Hence so many are in such deep credit card debt.

But if it's your hard soaked sweat and tears, you'll treasure it. In the same way that Jacob served under Job for 14 years before he got his dream wife. There is the appreciation of the fruits of your labour.

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So, how much are YOU worth? Yes, You as a person.

Can a person be valued? Monetarily. Actually, I do believe somewhat, that we can and are valued monetarily, although its not perfect but I do believe that the world evaluates and gives a worth to someone in which it is reflected based on your wages. In Risk Management they do place a value on people based on income, health and other factors.

Take a construction worker and the desk-manager. I reckon the construction worker probably works harder, but the manager gets paid more. He is valued higher, perhaps based on his education, his abilities, his skills, smarter or more effecient. Heck, even statistics proves that if your prettier, more handsome, or even dress better, you are more likely to succeed and get paid more. Hence, the coined term "dressing for success".

Even if you look in the past, things like dowry, or even in chinese culture, we have our own customs of trading an animal for a daughter. Although we may say that its just a gesture of thanks, but I'm not surprised if its previously some sort of barter trade for human life.

Although it sounds extremely cruel, but humans have a value. Hence we are investing in an education to increase our value, education, skills and knowledge ups our value. You can look at the world monetarily albeit it does feel a bit cynical to take that kind of perspective on life.

There is 2 perspectives every person have. How they value others, and how they value themselves.

People who value themselves always up their value, their self-worth. Like people who don't value themselves,do not take care of themselves and give themself away cheaply. It is the same way as someone desperate for food, they will scavange dustbins just to be filled. In some way there is a correlation of self-worth and love, akin to money, although we all know you can't buy love.

I like something Sarah quoted to me before "There are no ugly people, just people who act ugly". I think that word actually goes deeper than just the way they act in front of people, but their core values and principles, because deep inside they are not intrinsicly worth much. No doubt there are people who put on masks, but who you realy are inside would eventually be reflected on the outside.

People who value themselves and are truly worth much, they act maturely, beautifully, they take good care of themselves subjectively (hee hee), and out of an abundance of heart, they seek not only their own welfare but the welfare of others. Someone who is rich can give and help. Someone who is rich in heart is able to love others wholeheartedly.

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So how much do you value yourself? I used to have this massive struggle being able to come to reconciliation with myself. Knowing that I am not that valuable. I am not smart, I'm not strong, I'm not great, I'm a nobody. I'm not that handsome, I'm not from a rich family, I'm nothing much. The more I evaluate myself it feels like a spiral downwards into depression.

How much do I value myself? I have been bought with a price. Like I've said just now, that each and every person has actually a monetary value. I have been bought with a price. I have been bartered, just like a dowry, the men buys his wife. What is my cost? I am priceless. My value has just increased infinitely.

The cost is Jesus Christ. 2000 years ago Jesus hung on the cross for me. In his death, he has bought me, a strategic move to shift me buy me out of the Kingdom of Darkness. He has given me a new name, and a friend.

I am no more valued by the world, I have a different worth. Although I may not be worth much to this world yet, but I already have an internal worth, that would be expressed out in the external.

God values me even when I might not value myself, but if only I have a glimpse of how much God values me, I would be worth much. I am now so valuable I am overabundantly rich. Rich people value themselves, and they encourage others to see beyond their eyes as how God see's them.

The beauty of it all, is that God didn't just save me and say "I'm valuable" then leave me to fend for myself. Like the bride, he has also given to us a personal trainer. Someone to teach the bride how to act, dress and live life as a Princess or Queen would.

We have our trainer. His name is Holy Spirit. When we are saved, God see's us so absolutely valuable that he has given us his Holy Spirit. And he is teaching us how to conduct ourselves, how to live a life of Victory, he is the helper to our every need, body, soul and spirit. He will not leave us, neither will he forsake us. I can do anything in Him who strengthens me.

I am valuable, I am worth so much. And I value you, because you have been paid by the precious blood of Jesus. Now that you have accepted him, won't you see yourselves through his Eyes?

O valued Son and Daughter of Christ, "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. (Isaiah 60:1)