Significance

NOTE: This is Day One of the devotional guide of our church, Filinvest Community Christian Fellowship for the “Significance” series (a verse-by-verse study of the book of Ephesians, which we launched last Sunday, March 1). 
Image credit for “Significance.”

According to the dictionary, to be significant means to have or to express a meaning. In short, to be significant is to be meaningful. We all desire to live meaningful lives.
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 One Christian psychologist wrote, “The basic personal need of each person is to regard himself as a worthwhile human being.” But problem arise when we seek significance from all the wrong places.
We must understand that this hunger for self-worth is God-given and can only be satisfied by God. …our self-worth is not dependent on our ability to earn the acceptance of fickle people, but rather, its true source is the love and acceptance of God. He created us. He alone knows how to fulfill all our needs. [1]
To be significant, we must focus on God and not ourselves. Our “self-worth” is not based on what people say about us or what we think about ourselves. Our worth is based on what God thinks and says about us. We are created in His image. So, we derive our value from Him. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10) The Greek for “handiwork” is the same word where we got the word “poem.” The New Living Translation (NLT) translated that word as “masterpiece.” We are God’s masterpiece. We are His valuable artwork. In the NLT, the last clause goes this way: …so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Thus, God really has a wonderful plan for our lives.
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 That’s why the apostle Paul encouraged us, As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. (4:1, NIV) God called us and we are to live worthy of that calling. As we go through our “Significance” series, we will understand more His calling for us.
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Never allow anyone and even yourself  to treat you as insignificant. That would be tantamount to telling God that we or other people know ourselves better than Him. We are significant because of God, not because of us or any merit in us.
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 Significant Step [2]
Read the book of Ephesians one chapter a day this week. If you start today, Monday, you would finish it by Saturday. It only has 6 chapters. You can even read it in one sitting. As you read, pray that God would make His calling clear to you.

Confess to God any feeling of inadequacy or rejection. Ask yourself: “What led me to think of myself this way?” Then, as you read Ephesians, seek to see yourself as God sees you. 

 [1] Robert McGee, The Search For Significance (TX: Rapha Publishing, 1985), 13, 14. Emphasis added. 

 [2] A suggested activity or application in response to the devotional article.

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