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Have you ever felt like you try everything you can to fit in? Maybe you wrestle with making that one person in your life proud of you. In these moments, we tend to allow the people around us to determine our value. Sometimes, we want so badly to fit in and be the pride and joy of someone else because we feel like we need someone else to show that we have value.

For a large part of my life, I have always focused on making my dad proud of me. Everything I did was to make him proud because I would hope that it would make me feel fuller and happier. But after a while, I realized that the value we have goes beyond any one person determining it for us. In Matthew 10, Jesus is talking to some of His closest followers, and in these verses, He shows them that He cares for every living thing, but He values us above all else. Jesus tells us that we “are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows” (Matthew 10:31 NLT, Emphasis Mine). God, who sees everything, values us more than anything else. How incredible is that?!

I challenge you today to find something in your life that might be currently determining your value. Then, pray and ask God to show you your true value–how valuable you are to God!

Written by Quintin, age 16, from Bowling Green, Indiana, USA