When We Feel Worthless: 5 Ways to Remember Our Value - Jeanne Takenaka
Contents
How do we respond when we feel worthless?
Keeping it real, I recently talked with a loved one who has made a series of poor choices. They are unhappy with where they are in life, and right now, they feel worthless. Believe me when I say I’ve been there.
Our conversation reminded me of the importance of finding our value in the One who gives it. Our choices—good or bad—do not assign us value. When we mess up or sin against God and others, we may adopt some faulty beliefs about our value and our worth to others.
When we fail in relationships, in aspiring to reach a dream, in our jobs, or in some other way, thoughts of worthlessness creep into our minds and hearts. If we dwell on our perceived failings, we can experience long-range impact on who we believe we are.
When We Feel Worthless: 5 Ways to Remember Our Value—If we dwell on our perceived failings, we can experience long-range impact on who we believe we are #tellhisstory #feelworthless #knowourvalue Click To Tweet
The impacts when we feel worthless
When we feel like we have no value, we fall into thought traps. We:
- forget our value to God and others because our self-perceptions become skewed
- lose motivation to move forward in life
- can slip into depression
- become self-focused, especially on the ways we don’t measure up
Here’s the thing about feelings. They are literally waves. They crest and subside, and often in a short period of time. We must not base our value or important decisions on how we feel in a given moment.
A sense of worthlessness may drive us to dig and discover what’s at the root of the feeling. But we must be wary of focusing our thoughts so much on the feeling that we internalize the thoughts and then call them reality.
What does God say about our worth?
He tells us we are fearfully and wonderfully made.
He knows the number of hairs on our heads.
We have great value to Him.
We are precious to Him because we are His creation.
He has loved us with an everlasting love.
God has a lot to say about what He thinks of His creation. Put simply, He loves us! Not because of who we are (besides being His creation) or what we’re good at. He loves us. Period. There’s nothing we can do to cause Him to love us more or less.
When We Feel Worthless: 5 Ways to Remember Our Value—He loves us. Period. There’s nothing we can do to cause Him to love us more or less. #tellhisstory #feelingworthless #whatgodsays Click To Tweet
Sometimes feeling worthless comes from messages others have given us through childhood, abuse, bullying, or in another way. Other times, our sense of worthlessness has developed as the result of choices we’ve made that we regret.
God still values us.
He sees us as precious, cherished.
He doesn’t think less of us when we fail or fall short.
What do we do with this information? How do we move beyond feeling worthless?
Finding our worth when we feel worthless
When we struggle with feeling worthless, we need a shift in our perspective. As with so many things, working through these suggestions takes time. We need to give ourselves grace as we shift our perspective and find our worth.
This process begins with understanding how God views us
He loves us completely, perfectly, and passionately. He knows we’ll make mistakes—we’ll sin—but He still loves us. Do we need to ask for forgiveness? Yes. But, we can be reassured when we ask, that God always forgives. So, we also need to forgive ourselves.
Evaluate
If our sense of worthlessness comes from how others have spoken to or treated us, we must evaluate if their treatment is more about us or about them. If we feel worthless because of how we think God views us, we need to align our beliefs with what His word says about us. And believe His word.
Determine where we’re trying to earn our value
If we’re looking to humans or perceived success/achievements, financial security, or anything besides God, we must readjust our focus.
Care for our physical bodies
When we struggle emotionally or mentally, taking care of our physical needs better equips our minds and hearts.
- Make healthy food choices
- Spend some time outdoors
- Exercise
- Get enough sleep
Equipping our bodies with the care it needs enables our hearts and minds, to shift perspectives more easily.
Find refreshment
If the root of the feeling of worthlessness presses in because we’re overwhelmed or too busy, set aside time to do something that refreshes us. Getting outside our heads and finding those activities that nourish our spirits resets our feelings and perspective.
Briefly, a continuing sense of feeling worthless can be a sign of deeper issues—depression or other mental health concerns. It’s important to talk with someone who can help with this.
Conclusion
As for my loved one, their happy ending isn’t yet written. They are still in the hard work of deciding how to handle this place where they find themselves. My role here: it’s to pray. To be a listening ear. And to point them to Jesus.
Jesus is the Giver of worth. If He says we have worth, we must allow no one to refute that.
What about you? What has helped you understand your worth? How do you encourage others to not feel worthless?
Next week, we’ll be meeting and linking up at Lisa Jordan’s place!
Come share your story at the Tell His Story linkup. Connect and be encouraged by like-minded friends! #tellhisstory #linkup Click To Tweet
Most weeks, I link up with Grace and Truth, Anita Ojeda, Instaencouragements, and sometimes Let’s Have Coffee. Come join and read more encouraging posts!
Each week we gather here as storytellers, word weavers, and encouragers to make His name known. Our story is God’s story and this small corner of the blogging world, where we come together each Tuesday, needs you. This is a place where poetry, snapshots, prayers, and stories find a safe spot to nod in agreement that what we have to say matters. I am glad you are here and would love to have you join the #TellHisStory community. Add your own encouraging post through the link below. Spread some love by visiting your neighbor and leaving your own encouragement. Click here to read more about the #TellHisStory community and find a button to add to your site.
Each week we gather here as storytellers, word weavers, and encouragers to make His name known. Our story is God’s story and this small corner of the blogging world, where we come together each Tuesday, needs you. This is a place where poetry, snapshots, prayers, and stories find a safe spot to nod in agreement that what we have to say matters. I am glad you are here and would love to have you join the #TellHisStory community. Add your own encouraging post through the link below. Spread some love by visiting your neighbor and leaving your own encouragement. Click here to read more about the #TellHisStory community and find a button to add to your site.
