You Are Priceless

Jesus is many things to many people.

• Some call him a prophet.
• Some call him a man.
• Some call him a teacher.

I want to tell you about Jesus the lover and Jesus the savior.

Jesus is a patient lover.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

Jesus is jealous for our love.

Exodus 20:3
“You shall have no other gods before me.”

What is love to you? Define it.

When I was younger, I thought that love was the things you do with your girlfriend and to your girlfriend. I eventually learned that I was selfish, impatient and greedy. I was ultimately out to please myself and do what made me feel good, not the other way around. Maybe that was you. On behalf of all the men that have been a poor example of love to you; I’m sorry.

You are valued.
You are worth it.
You deserve somebody willing to wait for you.
You are God’s daughter.
You are the apple of his eye.
You are the object of his affection.
Jesus knows the number of hairs on your head. (Luke 12:7, Matthew 10:30)
Isaiah 49:16 says that he has engraved you on the palm of his hands.
Genesis 1:27 says that we were made in God’s image.
You are the daughter of the Most High; the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
This makes you a princess.
You are royalty. Proverbs 31:10 says that you are more precious than rubies.
You are priceless!

However, many of us (like me) have forsaken our love. Many of us have chosen another god before him. Jesus longs for us to be with him and describes it within the context of marriage. We were unfaithful. But what is his response?

Zechariah 1:4 says, “…Return to me and I will return to you.”
James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.”
Malachi 3:7 says, “…Return to me, and I will return to you.”

Hosea 2:14-15
“Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor (Trouble) a door of hope…”

It’s so easy for us to look in the mirror and see all of the things we don’t like. However, God’s response is this:

“People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” – 1 Samuel 16:7

God changes us from the inside out. Our outward actions should represent the attitude of our hearts.

2 Corinthians 4:16 says we are being renewed day by day.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says we are a new creation in Christ.
Proverbs 4:23 says to guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Even when our hearts are so hardened to Jesus and we cannot find the strength to make the change, sometimes he will do the unimaginable.

Ezekiel 11:19
“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.”

However, Jesus is still a true gentleman.

Revelation 3:20 says that Jesus stands and waits at the door of our hearts until we are ready. When we are ready to invite him in, he quickly responds and fills our hearts with his presence.

If you’re like me, you’ve fallen in love at least once before and felt the stinging pain of that person leaving. It leaves you cautious of love the next time. Yet Jesus responds differently as told in Hebrews 13:5; “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Do you long for a love that…

• is patient?
• is kind?
• is chivalrous?
• is priceless?
• is forgiving?
• never leaves you?
• never forsakes you?
• rescues you from the darkness?
• softens your heart?
• speaks tenderly to you?
• restores you?
• loves you so much it would die for you?

John 15:3 says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Yet, some of you still think that you are too far gone. God’s word says in Isaiah 59:1 “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.”

You are worth it.

When I first started this conversation, I said that some of you may only know Jesus as a prophet; a man; a teacher.

Jesus asked his disciple, Peter, something similar. He asked him who people said that he was. Then he asked him directly, “Who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:27-29, Matthew 16:13-15, Luke 9:18-20)

If you only know Jesus as a prophet, a man or a teacher, I’d like to invite you to know Jesus the lover and Jesus the savior. If you want this, please let me know and I will help walk you through this process. May God bless you with a better understanding of him and his character, and may your walls fall down as you open your heart up to him.