Does the sinful nature cancel out our value?

I was reading a blog by John Eldgrege in which he talked about how many Christians have accepted the doctrine that we have no intrinsic worth as human beings. He was sharing how misguided this viewpoint is and that it gives us a false picture of God and of ourselves. I have always believed that we had value and worth because we were created in the image of God. I have also wondered does our sinful nature somehow cancel out our value and worth. There is a teaching in many Christian circles that "we are flithy rags", there is nothing good in us. Is this true is there nothing good in us?

Let's look at the scripture in context in which the phrase "filthy rags" is used in Isaiah 64: 4-9.

4For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear,

Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,

Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.

5You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness,

Who remembers You in Your ways

Behold, You were angry, for we sinned,

We continued in them a long time;

And shall we be saved?

6For all of us have become like one who is unclean,

And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;

And all of us wither like a leaf,

And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

7There is no one who calls on Your name,

Who arouses himself to take hold of You;

For You have hidden Your face from us

And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities.

8But now, O LORD,

You are our Father,

We are the clay, and You our potter;

And all of us are the work of Your hand.

9Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD,

Nor remember iniquity forever;

Behold, look now, all of us are Your people.

This scripture points to God's people's righteous deeds are like filthy garments. They are still valuable to God but He is angry at their continuing in sin. When one of my children is mean to his brother or disrespectful towards me, I correct this behavior. I know that this behavior is not a good habit to get into and will cause him problems if he continues in it. I have not stopped loving him, but I do know that this is not behavior that is good for him. God was angered that his people were living in their sin for too long, were not turning to Him, had forgotten His ways. This is why God hates sin and can have no part of it. Sin causes pain and destruction in the world we live in. Sin also takes us away from the one who loves us with an undying love--God, our Heavenly Father. Sin taints our value and worth. We still have our intrinsic worth but our sin interferes with us living out who God intends us to be.

God can have no part of sin, so our sin seperates us from God. Countless scriptures point to this concept. Do a key word search in the Bible on evil, you will understand God's feelings and thoughts on evil. "You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. (Psalm5:4). "I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion. To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. (Proverbs 8:12-13).

This does not mean that he does not love us or want to be near us. Our sin becomes a barrier that God must deliver us from in order for us to have relationship with Him.
It is not who we are as human beings that he hates....it is our sin. Isaiah says that God's people are the work of His hands that makes us extremely valuable. Isaiah says this in the same chapter in which it is spoken of their righteous acts are like filthy rags. We were created by God and in His Image and God said that all he created was good (Genesis 1). Psalm 139 says that we were designed by God in our mother's womb, that we are beautifully and wonderfully made.

God wants to be near us, spend time with us, he longs for us to know him and he longs for us to share ourselves with him. But, there is this dilema, he can have no part of evil and we have been corrupted by evil. This happened when Adam and Eve (perfect human beings who had perfect intimacy with God) chose to eat of the tree of good and evil when they were tempted by Satan. (Genesis 3).

He loved us so much and so greatly detested evil that he devised a plan to conquer evil and win back his true love. You know the "greatest love story ever told" of God sending his son to earth born as a baby and becoming a man and living a sinless life in perfect communion with God the Father. This perfect man of true love who came as our Messiah was loved by some, rejected by the masses and religious leaders and killed. His death paid the penalty of our sin! He was then raised to life conquering death and evil once and for all. (Romans 8:1-4).

Here's the amazing part! God's beautifully and wonderfully made creation, You and me, are freed from the corruption of sin when we accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We still contend with the sinful nature, but God has declared us righteous! II Corinthians 5:17 states that "We are New Creations"! "For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17). Wow, talk about Good News!

Why does it matter that we are are valuable in God's eyes? What is the importance of this distinction between our worth and our sin? How does it feel to hear that you are valuable? What did you want to hear growing up? What was special about you, or how badly you were screwing up? We are trying to help our kids make wise choices that will create confidence and fullfillment. What motivates you, how horrible you are or how much potential you have? How our parents deal with our disobedient behavior makes a big difference in how we view ourselves. It is the same with how God parents us. That helps us understand why they Bible talks about God disciplining those He loves (Hebrews 12:6). God wants us to value who we are and see how our sinful nature interferes with us having an abundant life!

Human Beings are born with value and worth, they are still God's creation. However, they are also born with the sinful nature. This sinful nature draws us into choices that create death in our lives. The sinful nature and the work of our adversary, Satan, can wreak havoc with our self esteem. This happens in many forms. It can be our choices that cause us to feel bad about ourselves. The sinful nature of others who devalue us, put us down and disregard our value can cause low self esteem. The enemy reinforces our bad feelings, by trying to get us to agree with these lies about ourselves.

We can remove one of these lies of the enemy by making the distiniction between our value and worth and our sinful nature. Let's battle the sinful nature not believe the lie that we are worthless. God loves and values us and He desires relationship with us. He wants us to accept His gift of redemption so that we might be freed from the slavery of sin. Each of us was created in God's image, that is such an amazing concept. Do you believe you are a magnificent creation?

Christmas Blues

I encounter many who are struggling with the "Christmas Blues" in my practise as a Marriage and Family Therapist. I have had to struggle with my own stress throughout the years when the Christmas Season rolls around. I have found "ways of thinking" that have helped me, my friends and my clients to choose how to manage Christmas Stress.



Our belief system, convictions and expectations create our feelings in every area of life. Asking yourself some questions, can help you discover what your believe Christmas should be about. My Christmas would be wonderful if....? I am suppose to feel ____________at Christmastime? Why do I celebrate Christmas? What do I do with Christmas when I have lost someone I love or have unhappy memories associated at this time of the year?



I held the belief that "I should feel something magical or spiritual at Christmas time because Christmas was about celebrating that Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day." This belief system used to create guilt feelings, when I wasn't having this "supernatural magical" experience. I heard a sermon about the origins of Christmas that set me free from this guilt. I had never really thought about the origins of Christmas. Christmas is a manmade Holiday. Originally it was a Roman Holiday to celebrate the Saturn God and winter solstice. Emperor Constantine in 336 AD converted it into a Christian Holiday. Historians agree that Christ was not born on December 25th. This took the pressure off that I would somehow be disrespecting God if I was not feeling the wonder of Christ's birth at Christmastime. I do focus more on the Birth of Christ at Christmas, but it is a choice I make, not something I must do.

Now, at Christmastime, I ask God what he is speaking to me at this time of the year rather than try to manufacture my own feelings. This year he has helped me not go into the adrenaline rush of my "To Do List", he has guided me each day as to what to make a priority and what to let go of. The birth of Christ, his life, his death and resurrection and the joy of living a new life in him is something I try to grow (pray and study) in all throughout the year.

Many feel that they should have warm and loving gatherings with family and friends. This typically comes from movies we have seen. Statistically, 95% of us come from dysfunctional families, so we have to factor our families particular dysfunction into the family gathering. If we try to make our family the ideal of something we saw in a Hallmark Card we will absolutely be disappointed.

Some struggle with trusting others and have had problems developing close friendships, so getting together with friends may not be a reality for them. It is important to change this unrealistic expectation to fit the reality of your life. If you choose to get together with your family realize that it will be a mixed experience of emotions. If you don't have the friends you wish you had, make note of that and get to the bottom of why you are struggling in this area. Begin working on creating these meaningful friendships in your life. This area of your life will not change with out choosing to change it.

If you don't have family and friends to spend Christmas with, reaching out and giving to others can be an option. Find organizations and ministries that are giving gifts to poor families or serving the homeless. Giving back and making a difference in other people's lives can help combat lonely feelings. If you have the gift of hospitality, invite over neighbors or other's from your church who don't have Christmas plans to celebrate together. Learn to be creative and think outside the box in creating a meaningful Holiday season.

Those who have encountered losses at Christmastime, first need to make sure they have safe places to grieve, a grief group can be helpful. Also, doing something in memory of a loved one can be helpful. We don't have to deny our loss, acknowledging it does not have to mean we can't have a memorable Christmas, it will be a bittersweet time. Christmas can be both good and bad, it does not have to be one or the other.

How about all the money we spend, and all the pressure we put on ourselves to decorate, send out a Christmas Card or Christmas letter. You can choose how you celebrate Christmas. Spend according to your budget, It really is "the thought that counts". Just because someone buys you a gift does not mean you have to buy them a gift. You are free to decide to buy gifts or not buy gifts, it is up to you. Over the years, our list has gotten smaller amongst the adults, and the other adults in our life have not minded! I am sure it takes pressure off of them to not feel obligated to buy us a gift.

Create Christmas memories for your children that you decide to create. Remember you are teaching them about gratefulness and entitlement in how much money you spend or much you indulge their Christmas wishes. If you are stressed and unhappy your kids will be more impacted by this than all the decorations you have put up or all the money you have spent.

Decide what Christmas means to you, don't let society tell you what it is suppose to mean for you.