Know Your Worth
The voices that matter most are not the loudest ones around you, but the truest one above you.
A daily devotional adapted from The Drive podcast
Many of the struggles we face in life trace back to one common source: insecurity.
When we don’t know our worth, it affects everything. It damages relationships. It fuels addiction. It breeds anger, control, manipulation, and fear. And the problem is made worse by the world we live in—a world that constantly whispers, and sometimes shouts, that we are not enough.
Not attractive enough.
Not smart enough.
Not successful enough.
Not happy enough.
Those messages come from everywhere—media, culture, comparison, and sometimes even the people closest to us. Over time, if we aren’t careful, we begin to believe them.
Where Worth Is Truly Found
There’s a simple story that helps explain where real worth comes from.
A father once gave his son an old watch and asked him to find out how much it was worth. The son took it to a jewelry store, then a pawn shop, and finally a museum. The offers ranged from almost nothing to an astonishing amount—yet the watch never changed.
Only the place did.
The lesson was clear: the right place values you the right way. Being undervalued doesn’t mean you lack worth—it often means you’re standing in the wrong place.
But even knowing that truth, it’s still easy to look outward for validation. So how do we truly come to know our worth?
One of the most powerful answers comes from a children’s story many love, You Are Special by Max Lucado.
It tells of small wooden people called Wemmicks who spend their days giving one another stickers—gold stars for talent and beauty, gray dots for mistakes and flaws. One Wemmick, Punchinello, seems to receive nothing but gray dots and begins to believe he isn’t worth much at all.
That is, until he meets someone different—Lucia. Stickers won’t stick to her. Her secret? She spends time every day with her maker, Eli the woodcarver.
When Punchinello finally visits Eli, he learns something life-changing:
What the maker thinks matters more than what anyone else thinks.
When You Stay Close to the Maker
Eli reminds Punchinello that he matters—not because of what he’s done or how he looks, but because he belongs to him. And as Punchinello begins returning to Eli day after day, the stickers slowly lose their power.
That’s how it works for us too.
When we spend time with our Creator—through prayer, scripture, quiet reflection, or simply being still—we are reminded who we are and whose we are. Little by little, the labels others place on us begin to fall away. The opinions that once defined us start to lose their grip.
Not all at once.
But over time.
Today’s Daily Challenge
Today, intentionally spend a few moments connecting with your Maker.
Do it in whatever way helps you feel closest—prayer, scripture, music, a walk, or quiet reflection. As you do, allow yourself to remember this truth:
You matter to Him.
You belong to Him.
And He does not make mistakes.
You may be surprised to find that one of the labels you’ve carried no longer sticks.
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Thanks for taking a moment to reflect today.
If you’re looking for daily devotionals and episode topics, visit
https://joshdowns.com/daily-devotionals
For gospel-centered lessons designed specifically for teens, explore
https://joshdowns.com/come-follow-me-for-teens
