There’s something powerful about knowing your value. Not just intellectually understanding your worth, but deeply believing it, acting on it, and expecting it to be honored — in your career, your relationships, and in the way you see yourself.
Your Value in Work and Career
In the professional world, your value is often measured by performance, results, and titles — but those metrics rarely capture your true worth. The value you bring to your work isn’t just what you do, it’s who you are. Your character, integrity, creativity, and leadership—those are priceless. But if you’re constantly overlooked, underpaid, or treated as replaceable, it begins to wear on your spirit.
Sometimes, the only way to ensure your value is honored at work is to create your own lane. That might mean starting a business, becoming a consultant, or writing your own rules in a freelance world. When you control your work, you control your value. You don’t have to beg to be seen; you simply are.
Your Value in Personal Relationships
But no matter how respected you are at work, it will always feel hollow if you don’t feel valued in your personal life. Being valued in your relationships means more than words — it’s reflected in actions: time spent, sacrifices made, support given. When someone loves you, they don’t just appreciate you for what you do — they see who you are. Often, they’ll see value in you that you can’t even see yourself.
That kind of love — where someone sees you as extraordinary, even when you feel average — is healing. It’s affirming. And it can restore a self-worth that life and circumstances may have worn down.
Productivity and Value: The Silent Link
Here’s something most people don’t talk about: when you feel valued, you produce more. You think clearer. You create better. You lead with more confidence. People who feel seen and appreciated go the extra mile—not out of obligation, but out of alignment with who they are. When you’re respected, you’re freer to innovate, take risks, and grow.
But when you’re constantly fighting to be recognized, you burn out. Fast.
When Value Is Lacking
So what do you do when your value isn’t being honored?
- Speak up. Sometimes, people don’t know how much they’re hurting you by treating you as less than.
- Set boundaries. You don’t have to stay in environments — professional or personal — where you’re constantly undervalued.
- Create your own space. As mentioned before, build your own table. Don’t wait for a seat at theirs.
- Pray. Because God sees what others don’t.
God’s View of Your Value
If no one else sees your value, God does. Scripture is filled with reminders that your worth is not defined by man — it’s defined by your Creator. In Luke 12:7, Jesus says, “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” You are seen, you are known, and you are loved — not because of what you do, but because of who you are.
Unlike people, God doesn’t play favorites. He doesn’t value one person’s gifts over another’s. Your value is not diminished because someone else is celebrated more loudly. In God’s economy, you are irreplaceable.
Final Thoughts
You are not defined by your paycheck. You are not defined by someone else’s failure to appreciate you. You are not even defined by the titles you hold.
You are defined by how you were created — with love, for purpose, and full of value.
So walk like it. Work like it. Love like it. Expect it. And if you’re not getting it — ask yourself why you’re settling for less than what God already said you were worth.
Troy P Zehnder 