Foolish Cross

1 Corinthians 1:18-23, "I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.
As the Scriptures say, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.'
So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense."

I've been sitting here this morning thinking about how to relate values and self-worth to the girls that I come in contact with. I don't want to overly exaggerate God when I talk with them. I know most do not believe in God themselves and their parents are unbelievers as well. So I really want to get the message across to them about what they are worth, without turning them off from using God so much. I've tried. I've racked my brain on how I can talk to them so they can hear, without me using Christ, but I cannot. I just can't. I know how stupid the cross sounds to them. Heck, I used to think the same way and I was brought up in a believing home. How can I tell them they are created for worth, without using the very One who created worth to begin with.

Just yesterday I was sitting around a table listening to others talk. One of the women at the table was talking about how her brother wanted a bible for his birthday. As she was saying this, her eyes were rolling. I could see how foolish she thought her brother was and how truly annoyed she was that he wanted a bible. As I was watching the women, one of them, an older woman was loving the fact that she had just picked up a new bible that was in the stack of books next to the table. She was admiring the pretty cover and talking about how excited she was to read it. As the older woman was talking, the younger woman looked at her like she was pathetic. Her looks were looks of pity and it seemed her thoughts were thoughts of contempt. The bible, the Cross, the Creator all seem so stupid to those who have not yet been touched by God, but to the rest of us, He is the very reason we want to breath each day.

Nothing, no one else is more valuable than you. "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: 'For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ," (2:14). It is through Christ that I have value. It is through Christ that judgment and fear of others is of no value to me. For it is through Christ where I have found how truly valuable I am. "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple," (3:16). It is through Him that I can see how sacred my body is. It is through Him that I can see the gifts, that I possess, that He has given me. It is by Him that I can walk into any room, even with my past, and hold my head high. It is with His covering that I do not have to worry about what others think of me. It is the Cross that protects me wherever I go. It is in Him that I feel valuable. Grab hold of the free gift Christ is giving you. When you open that gift, then you will see your true worth. It is in Him that you will see how precious you really are.