Devotional for the Week

Beloved Worth, Not Wealth

Devotional for the week of October 13, 2024

Perhaps you are familiar with the idiom “worth one’s weight in gold.” The phrase means that someone is valuable because of their skills or what they can contribute. It can mean they are so good at their job that they are worth a high sum of money. This is a very old saying that points to how humans often determine the value of other humans.

The challenge Jesus presents to all of us is to see ourselves and others the way God sees us. We often see each other through the lenses that have been prescribed by our societal norms. We see the brand labels on our shoes and cars. We determine the amount of wages someone earns based on merit or years of experience. (See Matthew 20:1-16 for more from Jesus about wages and the kingdom of God.) Our society often assesses someone’s position in the world based on their money or job. In today’s gospel reading, is wealth itself what stands in this man’s way, or is it a symptom of wealth?

Our worth is not defined by wealth and riches, our skills, or our productivity; rather, it is defined by God. And God names each of us beloved. We are claimed, marked, and redeemed by God through Jesus Christ. Martin Luther shares that our job isn’t to earn this salvation; it is a free gift, and our job is to live in response to this gift and to nurture and share it with others.

Everything that we own is made by humans from materials created by God. Jesus instructs us to be generous with these gifts of God. We are to share these riches not according to human standards but God’s standards, and God names all beloved and worthy.