What if you have inestimable worth, and you’ve never noticed it before?

A few weeks back, I read about a drawing that was purchased for $30 at an estate sale. Art experts now believe this drawing came from Albrecht Dürer, a Renaissance master. It could sell for tens of millions of dollars. 

Most of us think of ourselves as the castoffs. The drawing tucked into a box in the attic or the side drawer of the bedside table. The one crumpled up and lying in the bottom of the trash. We pay attention to the scuff marks, the dirt, the signs of age, rather than the beauty and wonder inherent in how we have been formed. 

Or we believe we are the copies. The ones that imitate something great but can never quite measure up.

In the case of this Dürer drawing, the man who bought the drawing thought highly enough of it to show it to some people and ask whether it might be valuable. For him to know its value began with curiosity. And then there came the friend who knew enough about Renaissance art to invest in bringing this drawing to market, to do the research, to show it to the experts. 

I believe that all of us are masterpieces, created by a God of love who intends us to know that love and live out of that love. Each of us has been handcrafted with a purpose. Each of us has been made well.

Maybe we too could get curious. For those of us who have grown up with religious voices that tell us more about our wretchedness than our belovedness, we could ask what the Scriptures say about humans and discover the love that undergirds everything. And maybe we could invest in proclaiming this truth about the people around us. Maybe we could affirm the inestimable worth that we see in people who think of themselves as castoffs or copies.  

We too could discover that we are made well by God.

Learn more with Amy Julia:

• To Be Made Well: An invitation to wholeness, healing, and hope
• How Can We Be Both “Broken” and “Wonderfully Made”?
• Jesus’ Name Is Healer

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