Self Worth: A View of Others

The difficulty I face is that I do not have an 'across the board' sort of standard. I rate others in a very different manner than myself. I have no questions about the worth of others. I find value in all people. I really cannot bring to mind a time that I thought "That person is worthless." I have met many struggling, hurting, lost, and confused people. People with undesirable traits, people who have made wrong choices, people who are so mired in their own mess that hope has been abandoned. I know them, because I have been there with them. Even so, I see potential. I feel their pain, know they have a soul, understand they are searching (many in the dark with no light to speak of). Every person has worth. They are worthy of time, help, consideration, and above all love. Seeing people who are scorned and mocked gives me great sadness. I feel pain for people who fight themselves, who inflict pain on their own selves.

We are living in an incredibly shallow time, particularly in this nation. The worth of an individual is often determined and rated according to their job, the total in their bank account, the clothing they wear, the pastimes they participate in, past actions, or simply the way they walk, talk and interact. This is so sad. Many people are written off, given very little interest or time, or even mocked and incorrectly judged due to these insignificant characteristics. Many first hand scenarios jump to mind.

My motivation is not to be able to accurately identify all the ways and reasons a person's self worth may be warped, skewed or destroyed. I simply wish to encourage everyone to look upon others with kindness and compassion, and seek out ways to edify the people in your life. We all have the opportunity to live lives of love, grace, and dignity, and to stand up for those who are over looked and forgotten. I pray that I will have strength and the courage of my convictions to reach out to the people I meet. Will you?

I apologize for the randomness present in this post, I had an overflow of things to say, but a desire to be concise.