Knowing Your Worth

HEY FRIENDS! If you don’t know me, I’m Katie Randall from PC ’23! Being able to be a part of this sisterhood has been one of my biggest blessings this past school year! Every day when I walk into Chi O, I feel loved, valued, and welcomed. Chi O, and MSU in general, have some of the most incredible people I’m honored to know and love!! God has taught me so much in such a short amount of time while being a freshman!! In college, there are so many distractions. It can be easy to fall out of a habit of spending time with the Lord every day, or look at what other people have and become discontent. But it is so important to remember where your validity comes from in the midst of all those distractions. Validity does not come from how many friends you’ve made, how you did on your last test, what sorority you are in, if you’d rather stay in or go out, or if you know what you want to do with your life. Your identity comes from the Lord and Him only!! When I was at church one Sunday last semester, the pastor pointed out something I had never noticed in the story of Jesus’s baptism. In Luke 3, when Jesus comes up from the water, the heavens open and God says, “This is my son, with whom I am well pleased.” This was before Jesus had done anything. He hadn’t healed the sick, told parables, or died on the cross, yet God said He was pleased with Him. He was proud of Jesus for who He was and not what He was going to do! His love for us is unconditional. We hear that word a lot, but if we really think about it, that means it’s a love then can never be lost. No mistake or outcome defines us! If we ask the Lord to fill us with His Spirit, none of that will determine where we find our value. The past 8 months, the Lord has revealed Himself to me in ways I’ve never experienced Him before. I’ve been able to witness His faithfulness firsthand. If we call upon His Spirit, He will fill our hearts and give us discernment. We will be reminded of how loved and valued we are no matter the circumstance. Life is full of distractions; but when we remind ourselves where our worth comes from, we can walk confidently in knowing we are unconditionally loved!!! “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.” Jeremiah 17:7