Are you special?

I have loved you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3).

What makes you special? Are you special because you were voted Most Valuable Player or Employee of the Year? Are you special because you are part of a wonderful family or have a circle of great friends? Are you special because you have an excellent reputation and are often asked for advice? Or are you special because you have met all the goals in life that you set for yourself?

But what if some disability makes it impossible for you to work? What if death steals away your loved ones? What if malicious gossip destroys your reputation? What if a natural disaster destroys your home, or a criminal takes away all that you’ve worked for? Do you stop being special if your achievements turn to ash?

You are special—but not for any of the reasons I’ve just mentioned. Your worth is not based on your skills, achievements or assets. Your worth does not even depend on your relationships with other people. You are special because God gives you worth.

You are special because God took the time to make you different from everybody else. In Detroit, there is nothing special about the 99th new car rolling off the production line. At a fast food diner, the first burger served at lunch is no more special than the last one sold just before closing. You, however, are a hand-crafted original. God makes each of us personally, as we read in Psalm 139: you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

You are special because God loves you. And the devil knows how much God loves you. Since the devil cannot hope to win a fight with God, he chooses instead to hurt God by going after you. Satan does everything in his power to get you to sin, knowing that God cannot stand evil and condemns it to hell. But God loves you with such care and commitment that He sent His Son to suffer and die on the cross. Jesus took upon Himself the punishment your sins deserve. He suffered so that you need not go to hell; He died so that you can face death unafraid, confident that you have a place in heaven.

You are special. You are special because God made you, He loves you, and He has sent His Son to take you in His arms. Nothing else matters.