I can remember in high school asking my parents to Tell Me I’m Worth It, it looked like, “I got an A.”, “I nailed my dance routine.”, “I got into the college you wanted.” I would unintentionally ask for their approval in order to determine my worth. Can you relate?

Later in life it was less about parental approval and more about male approval. I would ask boyfriends to Tell Me I’m Worth It, it looked like, “How does my hair look?”, “Do you think I’m pretty?”, Are you happy with me?”, “You haven’t posted about us in a while, are we okay?”. Can you relate now?

Maybe your worth is still tied to your parents, your spouse, your boss, your friends, your followers? It’s easy to do. I connected my worth to the approval of others for a long time, but God wants more for you and I do too. He calls us to seek Him for our heavenly worth. A worth not based on what we did or what we can do, but a worth solely based on Him and who He says we are.

How beautiful, how freeing when we stop pursuing worldly worth and start pursuing heavenly worth. So what does this look like?

Your self-worth should come from your heavenly worth.

We commonly see two types of people: The people who think too high of themselves and the people who think too low of themselves. Both are dangerous, and neither are the way God intends us to live.

I looked up the definition of self-worth: “Confidence in one’s own worth or abilities.”

Right now, self-worth and self-help is a hot topic and talked about everywhere. They have books on books on books about how to create the life you want and what you can do to feel better about yourself. I want to be clear – self-help is great, and a lot of the books on self-help are great, but it can’t be the only help we get. As the definition above says, self-worth is a confidence in one’s own worth or ability, meaning a confidence without God. I don’t know about you, but I’m not confident of my worth or abilities without Him. Honestly, when I even try to picture my life without Him there is no confidence at all.

So, what does the Bible say about our heavenly worth?

Ephesians 1:4 says, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.”

I love this. It’s so simple, but Paul writes that even before He created the world, He thought of us. Chose us, and made us without fault in His eyes. If you are struggling to understand your heavenly worth today or if God even cares about you, He does. Be encouraged by this passage that you are worthy. The God of the universe loves you, chose you, and made you perfect.

Psalm 139:13-18 says, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body, and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it! You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”

What a beautiful passage to remind us not only how intentional and complex our God created us, but how much He thinks of us – His thoughts outnumber the grains of sand and He saw us before we were born. Every moment of our lives is already laid out.

So, when doubt and fear rise up on the inside of you, be reminded that you are worthy, and that even though He knew your every mistake, failure, and misstep, He still chose you and loves you. Wow, what a God!

You were made like Him for Him.

A few years ago, Google came out with a list of commonly searched phrases and one of them was, “Why am I here?” If I’m honest, it made me super sad to know that so many people had to ask that question to a computer, but I get it. That is the world we live in, there are so many questions and not enough answers. Another reason why the great commission is so important, but the answer to that question is in His word:

We exist to be like Him and to bring Him glory. Let me show you:

Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.”

God created us in His image to be like Him. Do you look like Him? Does your life reflect who He is? If you answered no to this, that’s okay. It’s a daily process because we are human and sinful. Dying to ourselves is not easy or natural, but it’s God’s way and it’s the best way to live.

Secondly, we exist to bring Him glory.

1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

 For a long time, I struggled with my purpose, and when I came across this scripture it gave me so much peace, because I felt that God spoke to my heart that His plans for me didn’t always have to look grand or have huge impact for life to have purpose.

It can seem in certain seasons vision, purpose and passion aren’t as clear or as exciting as before, you may even feel that God is quiet in certain seasons – that is why holding onto this scripture is so important – because no matter what you do, big or small, our purpose in this life really is only to look like Him and bring Him glory.

Your life has meaning now.

Someone is believing that life will start…

When you’re older,

When you have the right job,

When you hit 10k followers,

When you get married,

When you release a book or a podcast,

When you speak at your first conference, etc.

That is a lie. Your life has meaning now, and God wants you to know that, and know your worth in the NOW. No matter how old you are or how experienced or unexperienced you are, your life has value and God wants to use you today.

Jeremiah 1:4-10 says, “The LORD gave me this message, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” “O Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!” The LORD replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the LORD, have spoken!”

What is your I’m too ____? Replace that fear with God’s truth today.

THREE PRACTICAL TIPS TO PURSUE HEAVENLY WORTH.

#1 Surround. Surround yourself with people who will champion you, and point you to Jesus when your flesh wants to give up or seek the world for your worth. You may have heard this quote before, “Show me your five closest friends, and I’ll show you your future.” It’s true. If your close circle of friends doesn’t remind you of your heavenly worth, you will naturally look for approval from the world. You may also hear that you can do the faith journey on your own, that you don’t need anyone. That is also a lie. Community is important, accountability is important, the bible is clear that we can’t do this on our own. Who is surrounding you?

#2 Seek. Seek out your heavenly worth. Seek out the word of God. Seek out what God calls you. I recently went through the bible and made a list of all of the names that God calls me: Daughter, child, blessed, favored, healthy, beautiful, complex, etc. and I put notes all over my house. It’s hard to remember our heavenly worth when these labels do not come to us naturally. That is also why our time with God in the word is so important. Are you seeking your heavenly worth?

#3 Speak. Prayer is powerful. We can’t do this worth journey without God. Without prayer. I heard someone once say words are spirit wrapped in sound. Your words are powerful and God wants you to use them to talk to Him. He wants to reveal how worthy you are to Him through a personal relationship with Him. Do you talk to God?

God is with you, loves you, and chose you. Hear that again, God chose you. Your worth is based on Him, not on anything you can do or will do, and definitely not on another person or a title you may or may not have.

Sister and friend, be refreshed, encouraged, and inspired to go out and walk out your heavenly worth – because you are worthy.

Hello sister and friend! I’m Kayla Nordlum! I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon and recently moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where the sun really never stops shining!

My story might be similar to yours, for years life felt empty, confusing and disappointing. Unmet expectations left me stuck and hopeless. I struggled to trust that God had good plans for my future because I constantly replayed the mess I made of my past. BUT GOD.

Through a personal relationship with Jesus I realized it was never about what I did or what I would do, but everything to do with what He could do through me. I decided to fully surrender to the Lord in May of 2020. Through my act of obedience, I watched toxic relationship cycles end and negative mindsets slowly transform. God finally had my FULL heart and life was now EXCITING. I had vision, passion and purpose that I could not come up with on my own.

In August of 2020, I started a business called Worthy Women Co. (@worthywomenco). A space to remind women to never settle in life, love, or faith + it’s been so amazing to see what God has done and what he is doing with this sweet little community, PLUS I create fun merch, and who doesn’t love that?!

Writing has always been healing for me, I have journaled almost daily since I was young, but I never felt qualified to write for others (doesn’t God always use those people?) In January of 2021, I got serious about writing my first book (“The One That God Away”) and it’s almost ready to be released! God is so faithful and kind, He really has the best redemptive stories!

Now more than ever I know that with God THERE IS MORE + I’m super passionate about helping women find the MORE in their stories too.

XO

Kayla