All of us want our lives to stand for something. We want to leave a legacy. We want to accomplish something significant. Steve Jobs described something all off us feel we he said he just wants to “put a dent in the universe.” We don’t want to be invisible to the world – or even the world around us. We want the dash on our tombstone to stand for something.

So we strive. Strive to achieve. Strive to be counted. Strive and search for significance. Our desire for significance is so strong that we make up markers to tell us how we significant we are. These markers tell us if we have achieved anything, if we count for anything, or if our lives matter. Markers like, how many friends do I have on Facebook? How many people follow me on Twitter? How many people read my blog? Am I a boss at work? Do people call me “Dr.?”

The problem is that the Bible doesn’t use any of these markers to measure your worth.

Matthew 3:17 records God the Father saying, “this is my Son with whom I am well pleased.”

Of course God would be pleased with Jesus! He healed people. He was kind. He went the extra mile. He died for humanity. He never sinned. Let’s be honest, compared to Jesus your resume sucks.

But Jesus hadn’t done any of that stuff when God said this about His Son. No miracle had been performed. No healing had taken place. He hadn’t yet died to reconcile the world to God. In fact, he had slipped into oblivion as a carpenter. He blended in. He lived life with his family and friends. He wasn’t on the map. There was no dent in the universe (yet). God declares this when Jesus was baptized and being sent out to do extraordinary things in ministry! In other words, Jesus didn’t build up his ministerial resume in order to be called significant. He is called significant first, and then sent out to change the world!

Stop trying to gain significance through work or ministry when it is already yours! You aren’t made significant because of your accomplishments – go accomplish something for the God that is already well-pleased with you because you are his child!

Before Jesus accomplished anything in ministry God declared his love, acceptance, and approval of him.

Your value is not based on your accomplishments.