As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. – Psalm 42:1
When listening to my favorite Christmas carol, O Holy Night, I tend to hear the beauty in the lyrics worshiping God: Fall on your knees and Let all within us praise His Holy Name are two of my favorite lines. In fact, that’s what I initially planned to write about.
But then something new stuck out to me. Something that has always been there, but chose to reveal itself to me as I was writing.
Long lay the world, in sin and error, pining
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
The soul felt its worth. How often do we question our worth in this world? Our worth in our relationships, our abilities, our identity?
Through Jesus’ birth, the soul has found its worth. The soul felt, knew, acknowledged, accepted its worth, its value. Yet so many have never heard this message of their worth and value as children of God.
God sent His Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but so the world might be saved through him. – John 3:17
God sent the Son because we’re worth the journey, we’re worth the effort. In the eyes of God, you and I matter.
It’s remarkable to me to find this message hidden in O Holy Night, given that the text was written by poet Placide Cappeau, a professed atheist. Cappeau was commissioned to write a Christmas poem, “Cantique de Noël,” for his native town Roquemaure, France in 1843. How good is our God, that He would use someone like Cappeau to inspire all the generations to come. And yet, that’s what Christ’s birth does in the world, that’s what happens when someone hears this message and feels it in the depths of one’s soul. Something new comes into being: we discover who we are in God’s eyes, that we are people of extraordinary worth, whose lives, by grace, can be beautiful expressions of God’s glory.
So, when doubts assail, when life’s challenges overwhelm, and when the world tries to diminish your worth, hold fast to the unshakable truth that your soul is of immeasurable value in the eyes of the Almighty. You are not forgotten; you are not insignificant. You are known, cherished, and deeply loved.
Heavenly Father, I am so grateful for Your love. Thank you for Your blessed assurance, that my soul’s worth is eternally established in You. Help me to always walk in the knowledge that I am a beloved child of God, and may this truth empower me to live a life filled with purpose, joy, and unwavering faith. – Amen.
Ashley Carr Soter, Director of Young Adult Ministries
