Born to Matter: Understanding Your Value in God’s Masterpiece

We’re continuing our series on authenticity by exploring what it means to truly matter. Last week, we began discussing the “mattering matrix” – five essential feelings that help us know we matter. Today, we’ll complete this powerful framework that can transform how we see ourselves and others.

What Does It Mean to Matter?

To live authentically, we need three foundations:

• Meaning (drawing identity from who we are in Christ, not what we do)

• Mattering (feeling valued in and valuable to the world)

• Mastery (living out our fullest expression of who God made us to be)

 

When people say “I matter” or “we matter,” they’re expressing a need to be seen, acknowledged, and valued. Research shows five key elements that make people feel they truly matter:

The Five Elements of Mattering

• I need to feel I am known

• I need to feel I am wanted

• I need to feel I am missed

• I need to feel I am needed

• I need to feel I am enough

 

The Woman at the Well: A Story of Mattering

In John 4:7-30, Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman at a well. This conversation is the longest recorded interaction Jesus has with any individual in the Bible. While many focus on her five previous husbands and current relationship, there’s more to her story.

According to early church history, this woman’s name was Photini. After her encounter with Jesus, she became a follower, recognized as an evangelist in the early church, and even identified as an apostle. She remained faithful through persecution and was eventually martyred for her faith.

This story teaches us to release our prejudices and assumptions about others – and ourselves. When we do this, we can better understand how much we matter to God.

Every Dot Matters in God’s Masterpiece

Like the famous painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grande Jatte” created with individual dots, every person matters in God’s masterpiece. Each dot is placed with intention, purpose, and design. Remove one dot, and the masterpiece is diminished.

I Need to Feel I Am Needed

Being needed means someone invites me, includes me, and involves me. It’s like being invited to a dance (invitation), being asked to dance while there (inclusion), and being asked what song you’d like to dance to (involvement).

The amazing truth is that Jesus and God are not afraid to say “I need you.” 1 Corinthians 12:27 tells us, “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.” There’s both a collective part we play and a specific individual part.

God has designed His kingdom to need you and your contribution specifically. He invites you into His work, just as Jesus invited the woman at the well when He asked her for water.

I Need to Feel I Am Missed

In Luke 15:3-7, Jesus tells the story of a shepherd who leaves 99 sheep to find one that’s missing. While humans might be satisfied with 99%, God created 100, died for 100, and wants 100. He misses each one who is absent.

Isaiah 49 beautifully expresses God’s commitment: “Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she’s born? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you… I’ve written your name on the palms of my hands.”

When God misses us, it means we’re valuable. When we’re missing, the world misses out on the value God designed us to contribute. If you want people to know they matter, let them know they’re missed – not just what they do, but who they are.

I Need to Feel I Am Enough

Romans 5:8 tells us, “God showed His great love to us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” God didn’t just send Jesus to rescue us from sin or point out our sin – He sent Jesus to show us His love.

Ephesians 1:4 reveals something profound: “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” God chose how He would see us before we were born, before we did anything good or bad. He chose to see us as enough.

God sees what we do wrong, but He doesn’t see us as wrong. When Jesus healed the paralyzed man, He didn’t call him by his problem but addressed him as “son.” Our struggles are not disgusting to Him, our sins do not define us, and our messy parts are included in what God wants and does in our life.

Life Application

This week, I challenge you to:

• Recognize that you matter to God – He knows you, wants you, needs you, misses you, and sees you as enough.

• Look at others the way God looks at you – not accepting sin or brokenness, but seeing the person as valuable and enough.

• Let go of words and experiences from your past that robbed you of your sense of mattering.

• Affirm daily: “I matter. I am enough and I matter to God.”

 

Ask yourself:

• In what areas of my life do I struggle to believe I matter?

• How might my interactions with others change if I truly believed they matter to God?

• What specific gifts has God given me that contribute to His masterpiece?

• How can I help others feel known, wanted, needed, missed, and enough this week?

 

Remember, you were born to matter with God. Your life has a reason for being, and therefore your life has a reason for living.