Am I Significant to God?

Question:

I live in a town of over half-million people; I attend a major university with almost 30,000 students, and most of my classes have over a hundred people in them. I have been attending a local church which averages 1,200 at the morning worship service, and on Wednesday evenings attend the college group which counts about 150 young people. While I enjoy all of these, I sometimes wonder if I really “matter” to anyone. In all of these events, I have very few friends; I am shy, and it’s hard for me to reach out, but I am working on this with the help of one close friend. I came to accept Jesus as my Savior and Lord during my freshman year of college. I have a question that may sound stupid, but I really need an answer, so I turn to you (you don’t know me!) rather than asking this in our college youth fellowship. Here’s my question: “How do I know that I am significant to God?”

Answer:

That’s not a stupid question; that’s a great question! No doubt, others are thinking the same thing only they are too ashamed to ask it. I’m glad you did. There’s no better place to go than God’s Word to find the answer. Let me lead you to a number of passages that will help you to understand how important you are to God.

Let’s start with a very familiar passage, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Now where I have underlined the words, fill in your name and you will know how much God loves you. If you were the only one on the earth, our Father would still have given His only Son to die on the cross for your sins. Imagine that kind of love for you (and me)!

Another one of my favorite passages relating to your question in found in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” “His workmanship” is best translated “His work of art,” much as an artist creates a picture. We are an “original” with no one exactly like us; God didn’t clone us. This passage goes on to remind us that we are His work of art for a reason—we have been created in Christ Jesus for good works. That means that God has created you and me for a special reason, a special calling that only we can fulfill. It’s important for you to discern what that calling will be in your life and then do it.

John 15 has some significant truths for us: “I am the Vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in Him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you, you can do nothing…. You did not chose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit…” (Vs. 5, 16a). Jesus tells us that we are branches that are a part of Him, as the vine. That means that we are “attached to Him, and the lifeblood of His Holy Spirit flows from the Vine, Jesus, through the branches, us, and we produce fruit. Notice that He abides in us, and we abide in Him. The word “abide” means “to remain, to be steadfast or faithful, to remain in His perfect will at all costs.” What is the fruit we will produce if we abide in Him and allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us? Look up Galatians 5:22 & 23 for the answer.

A couple of other passages which can be helpful to you:

• Matthew 5:13: “You are the salt of the earth.”
• Matthew 5:14: “You are the light of the world.”
• Acts 12:8: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you shall be My witnesses….”
• 1 Corinthians 3:9: “For you are God’s fellow workers….”
• 1 Corinthians 3:16: “Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
• 2 Corinthians 5:20: “We are ambassadors for Christ….”

Hope these verses are helpful to you. Spend some time searching the Scriptures for additional passages that will speak to your significance in Christ. Remember finally, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Thanks, again, for a great question, and may God continue to richly bless you as you grow and mature in Him.

This was written by By: Rev. Sam Harris for The John Ankerberg Show, ©2001.