When I started out as an interior designer, I was fresh out of school with lots of student loan debt, a car I shared with my husband as we were putting each other through school, two babies and a distinct lack of sleep.

I entered a glamorous world of providing high-end goods to people who had lots of money and lots of things. Y’all, it was SO not glamorous. I had the sweaty business of lugging said goods around while staging and setting homes and presentations, hours in a cubicle doing AutoCAD on the computer while going on my 18th straight hour in the same panty hose, and wearing out my one good pair of high heels at construction sites.

When prospective clients met me, I was not wearing high-end anything. I had a (very) used car, hair colored by Miss Clairol, and shoes with no name.  As a young woman, I studied all the things Christ said I was… but standing in the living rooms of the wealthy with my crappy car parked a block away wearing plastic earrings, I wanted a better identity. An identity you could see from a block away in a shiny car. An identity you could see from outer space on my ring finger. An identity others would envy. I wanted to be a person with stuff.

Through the years, we have upsized and downsized both homes and pant sizes, each time adding or subtracting things as they became dated or we had no space for them. Not a single one of those items actually mattered. Not even sentimental items I was sure I would die from melancholy as I parted with them, would matter as the years passed. The people that only cared about me because I had those things, passed through my life with no lasting effect.

Friends and colleagues that have integrity cared about me and stayed in my life, never caring about my shoes, even when I had very expensive ones. They are the heroes Christ put in my life to hold my hands in tragedy and rejoice with me in happier days. We are able to be there for each other in all the ways that matter, through thick or thin times, because we know who we are in Christ. Relationships based on the inherent value of people are deeper and richer than relationships that depend on whether or not we have accumulated the correct stuff. 

We can only react well in all seasons when we know our true value, as sons and daughters of God.  I am precious because my freedom was purchased at a great price, by a king who sacrificed His own blood for me. There will never be any item I can add to myself that will increase my value. There will also never be any item that will reflect my true worth, as there is nothing on earth that compares to me, as far as my Father is concerned. 

Galatians 6:4 Let everyone be devoted to fulfill the work God has given them to do with excellence, and their joy will be in doing what’s right and being themselves, and not in being affirmed by others.

Personal reflection:

1.    What makes you feel important?

2.    Are there things you are working towards because you hope they will make you valuable in other’s eyes? What are they?

3.    If you felt no need to be affirmed by others, how might your dreams, identity and purpose be affected? What would your definition of healing and health be? How would you redefine fashion?

Goal setting and sharing: List 3 goals that you would like to accomplish (at home, at work, with family, etc.) that will allow you to live out your purpose regarding identity:

Heather Bise

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We believe your story matters! So if you are a word girl, love sharing your story and can communicate it well, then you have a platform with CW! Writers contribute once month and follow a standard devotional template that consists of goals, scripture, story and personal reflection. Each devotional focuses on one of our six principles: God-sized Dreams, Healing, Identity, Purpose, Health and Fashion.