Worth
July 13
Gearing up for school to start back the topic of worth enters
my mind once again as I consider the salaries of teachers and school
administrators compared to other careers...especially professional athletes!
I'll have to admit I think back on some high school teachers who have
taught the same class for 20 or more years from the same set of notes
and they have a pretty sweet situation. This is not the norm though.
Lower school teachers with ever changing curriculum, bulletin boards
to create and new little minds trying to grasp the basics of reading,
writing and arithmatic carry a load home every night. Add to the
standard requirements, dealing with student emotions and their parents,
and teachers should at least be paid what counselors make!
As a teacher, the question of "Is my time worth more than this?" has merit.
The word worth relates to monetary value; the value of something
measured by its qualities or by the esteem in which it is held; and a moral
or personal value. While teachers don't rate well on the monetary scale, I
do believe they are held in high esteem and of great personal value for
the impact they have on future generations.
Our value to God is what is of importance.
Jesus said:
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is
forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Luke 12:6-7
Paul's perspective:
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish
the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of
testifying to the gospel of God's grace. Acts 20:24
Considering our worth is a slippery slope into pride issues.
Focusing on the Lord and his worth is where our hearts should dwell.
As believers we should encourage one another in this way:
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped
praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his
will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this
in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him
in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge
of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might
so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving
thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance
of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the
dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:9-14
I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise. Psalm 18:3
You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things, and by your will they were created and
have their being. Revelation 4:11
Gearing up for school to start back the topic of worth enters
my mind once again as I consider the salaries of teachers and school
administrators compared to other careers...especially professional athletes!
I'll have to admit I think back on some high school teachers who have
taught the same class for 20 or more years from the same set of notes
and they have a pretty sweet situation. This is not the norm though.
Lower school teachers with ever changing curriculum, bulletin boards
to create and new little minds trying to grasp the basics of reading,
writing and arithmatic carry a load home every night. Add to the
standard requirements, dealing with student emotions and their parents,
and teachers should at least be paid what counselors make!
As a teacher, the question of "Is my time worth more than this?" has merit.
The word worth relates to monetary value; the value of something
measured by its qualities or by the esteem in which it is held; and a moral
or personal value. While teachers don't rate well on the monetary scale, I
do believe they are held in high esteem and of great personal value for
the impact they have on future generations.
Our value to God is what is of importance.
Jesus said:
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is
forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Luke 12:6-7
Paul's perspective:
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish
the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of
testifying to the gospel of God's grace. Acts 20:24
Considering our worth is a slippery slope into pride issues.
Focusing on the Lord and his worth is where our hearts should dwell.
As believers we should encourage one another in this way:
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped
praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his
will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this
in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him
in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge
of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might
so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving
thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance
of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the
dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:9-14
I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise. Psalm 18:3
You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things, and by your will they were created and
have their being. Revelation 4:11
