How much....?

“Ye are bought with a price....” (1Corith7:23)

In the African culture, one of the qualities of a good wife is her ability to get the best for her
family at the most reasonable price. Women generally price themselves (and they are priced
by men) when they exhibit this quality. When a woman does not even try to bargain in the
provision of groceries for her family she is termed wasteful. So we can say that in Africa, one
of the appreciated qualities of a good woman is for her to be a haggler (i.e. one who makes
difficult bargaining). There are some men with this quality also, but are far and in between,
in fact when a man haggles too much, he is termed to be a woman in Africa.

Haggling doesn’t start and end with groceries alone, there are those who negotiate business
deals (this also requires good negotiating power); there are also those who represent their
country, state or clan to negotiate on their behalf. Even the independence of our dear
country was gotten from the negotiating table. So there are negotiators, bargainers or
hagglers all around us.

One important factor of a good negotiator is his good understanding of the facts of the
matter. Or how else will a man represent his company well when he is not versed in its
policies, know their stand on the issues at hand and be well informed on the extent to which
they are willing bend. For example, in Nigeria today, it is believed that the men that
represented Nigeria at the World Court gave up Bakkasi cheaply to the Cameroonian, but
the leader of the delegation said they did it in the best interest of the country. We will never
know what went wrong because we were not there. It is possible they were not presented
with adequate information or they did not negotiate (haggle) well enough. One thing is
certain; they could not have taken such decision independent of the government.

Having understood these facts of bargaining it is important that we see also from the
position of the seller. For example someone marketing a product will have several
considerations before pricing the product. At least if he produced the good, he will count
the cost of production, if he bought the goods, it must be at a price, added to the price of
the good is the cost of transportation, storage and also the profit margin which is the
benefit of his effort. Now, it will take a foolish man to sell the good lower than the cost, so
notwithstanding how good the haggler is, the seller has a set limit.

For the purpose of this discuss if the seller of good does not have a price, then the buyer will
give it any price he wishes. When such a thing happens it will not be the fault of the buyer
but the seller who has not put a price on the good.

This fact is applicable to every sphere of man. Whatever does not have a price tag can be
priced at the whims and caprices of the buyer. Ladies and gentlemen, you will be priced
according to the price tag you place on yourself. If you don’t appreciate how you are being
priced, then check the price tag you placed on you or in case there is none place a price tag
on yourself (that does not mean you should price yourself out of the market oh!)

One of the ways to know your worth is to consider the people you are attracted to or that
are attracted to you. If for example as a lady the guys that gravitate towards you are the
never do well, the irresponsible, the unserious, the unspiritual and the hopeless, it is most
likely that is what you radiate all around you. Rather than look down on yourself put a price
tag on you; or maybe it is because you did not have a price tag, so the riff-raff’s priced you.
Once you place a price and they know they cannot afford it, they will move on to their own
kind of good. On the other hand if you feel you are being under priced, let the buyer know it
is not negotiable. Importantly, it takes a one that knows the value of a good to price it. Do
you know how much you are worth?

The light of this truth is what Jesus did for you on the Cross of Calvary. He bought you with
a price. How much do you think is the worth of the price Jesus paid? To understand this
truth, you have to know how much Jesus is worth. The Bible says He is the only begotten
Son of God. God is the ultimate being hence His Son Jesus Christ is the ultimate gift. In fact,
He is priceless; no earthly price can be tagged upon our heavenly saviour. That is how much
He is worth, priceless!

Hence, that Jesus died for you; He placed a different price tag upon you. Notwithstanding
what you might be worth before because of your family background, educational
qualifications, sex, tribe, height, speech, beauty, intelligence, connections and any other
qualification that man might use to elevate or demote themselves don’t matter anymore.
Jesus said “what is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit”.
(John3:6) Your salvation experience puts you above all other earthly (fleshy) qualification
there is, you are of the spirit you can never again be valued with earthly tag. I am saying in
short that Jesus has made you priceless. You are worth more than you think you are. I am
saying your worth is more than what is seen or the limiting factors in your life and I am
saying that Jesus is the only measure or the only determinant of what you are worth
henceforth.

Beautiful as this may sound, just like all of God’s promises it must be accepted by faith. The
Bible says “while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not
seen....” (2Corth4:17) Unless you see yourself beyond what you are physically and start
seeing yourself in the light of what Jesus did for you, you might never know nor accept how
much you are worth.

In verse 20 of 1Corith 7, the scripture says “Let every man abide in the same calling wherein
he was called.” Another translation put it thus; “All people should stay as they were when
they were called.” (GW) In other words, don’t try to be something else because who you are
naturally does not define you anymore. He went further to encourage servants not to feel
intimidated, though if they have opportunity to be free they should take it, but it does not
change anything about their status in God. That means in the Kingdom of God both slaves
and masters have equal worth. Both the earthly rich and earthly poor are the same. The
blood that Jesus shed for the rich man is not of any better value that of the poorest saved
man living.

When you understand, appreciate and accept this stance of God concerning you, your worth
will no more be dependent on what you have or have not acquired. That is not to say when
you have such opportunity to get the convenience of life you should not, but you are no
more a slave to those things. They are just things to give you ease in your daily living and not
the determinant of your worth in God. Having riches and all the comfort it brings does not in
any way increase your worth in God’s sight. It is Jesus (Christ) in you (your hope of glory
(prosperity, beauty, excellence, majesty, power...) that now has made you priceless.

Now that you know what you are worth in Christ it will be impossible for the devil to
intimidate you with things of life. Since you know that a man’s life does not consist in the
things which he possesses. Even when the devil lies to you that you don’t count for much,
when you remember who died for you and how much his death is worth, you are able to tell
the devil he is a liar, that your life count for much more, that is why Jesus died for you. Your
worth in God has made you a victor, put you far above all principalities and power and you
can from that position exercise the authority of your dominion over everything Jesus
defeated on the Cross which technically you have defeated also. Praise God!

You have been bought by the precious priceless of the blood of Jesus, so you can and should
refuse the lies of the devil, when you compromise your stand in Christ to the devil; you are
pricing yourself down too little. Also you do not have to be a slave to any man or man’s
opinion or man’s standard. You must walk in, exhibit and carry yourself in the light of what
you are worth in Jesus. Be a haggler that knows his worth, and don’t fall for or allow
yourself to be under priced any longer. You are priceless don’t allow anyone to look down
on you.

Take note of this truth, “the worth of any good is its universal appeal.” That is why a table is
a table not minding where you see it in the world though it may be used for purposes other
than it is made of. It is this premise that made the Dollar an acceptable Currency, because if
you are Dollar rich, you are considered rich all over the world. On this premise, whatever
worth is placed on you through Jesus Christ is universal, it does not depend on location, sex,
colour pigment of your skin, wherever you are in Christ, you are priceless!

I want you to shout aloud these words; “Because of the death of Jesus, because of His shed
blood I know I am priceless, I know I worth so much, my life is longer measured by my
earthly possessions, I am now born of the Spirit and by the Spirit of the Lord I am the head
not the tail above not beneath, I am blessed, prosperous, healed, wise, promoted, favoured,
protected, enlarging. Through Jesus Christ I am all that Jesus had done on the Cross of
Calvary. I am no longer a slave to sin, I am holy, righteous and doing excellently in Jesus
name. I am worth the blood of Jesus Halleluyah!”
So next time the devil comes lying to you, tell him to shut up because you know how much
you are worth.