From where do we get our sense of self-worth?
I don’t think it is related to my social media presence. I believe it’s something deeper.
More than a few years ago, when computer tablets came into classrooms, I stood at the front of the room, raised my tablet over my head, and announced that this was the “…the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis 2:9) I’m not sure what my students thought of my metaphor.
Keeping watch over the flock in the web wilderness calls for vigilance. Much helpful information and learning can happen online. There’s also messaging that can erode our sense of self-worth.
St. Paul writes, “Test everything; retain what is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
We teach our children that they are good, lovable, precious people. It is God’s perspective. It is taught and reinforced by how we love them, listen to them, care about them, converse with them, and pray with them—a thousand ways we share our lives with them.
It can be a humbling task.
In a book I read recently, I learned that the root word for humility refers to the earth, soil. We can think of humility as a particularly earthy virtue. I don’t think of it as bowing down to the ground, but rather a reverence for the ground of our being. I think the virtue of humility assures us of how precious we are in God’s sight. This faith conviction transcends celebrity, popularity, brand, online persona, and so on.
I think humility is assurance we are loved as we are. It is not pretentious. It does not hide behind a screen. With God’s grace, humility helps us to become loving people. We love others from an authentic sense of our self-worth. It is a true gift of self to care about the other. It is how we reflect God’s image; it is how God operates in gifting us with Himself.
In the Book of Genesis, in the second creation story, we find beautiful imagery that communicates the profound mystery of God’s intimate love for all humankind. We are living beings by the breath of God, His Spirit within us. (Genesis 2:7)
Our Advent prayer gives us time to meditate on the immeasurable love that takes on our humanity, Emmanuel, God with us, “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us,” (John 1:14a).