Why 'Making Something of Yourself' Is a Lie

Recently, my wife and I went to the doctor, a new doctor, an OB-GYN. We are no longer in the hands of our fertility specialist … for now. So we went in early last week to check on the baby, the first time we had gotten a peek for about six weeks. We found out it’s a boy, which is great. I can relate to boys. But I would have loved a girl just as much, although I feel that I might have spoiled a girl more, for some reason. What was also great was how much we saw of the baby. Ten fingers, ten toes, a nose, lips and ears. We saw him turn his head, swallow, move his arms and legs. He was really pretty active for a one-ounce person. Good muscle definition, like he must be doing baby yoga or something in there. And I was thinking this week about all of the dreams that every parent dreams for their child, and really all of the dreams we dream for ourselves. We all know the phrase "make something of yourself." It means to do well, to be successful. If we make something of ourselves, it means we have proven our worth. We have a meaningful life. People depend on us. And those are all good things. It is good to be successful at what we love to do. It is great to have other people depend on us. But I started to wonder if our idea of making something of ourselves is just not quite adequate. Because my wife and I believe that every life has value and meaning. Every life, whether that person ever got the chance to be successful, enjoy applause or make something of himself. There are so many people who never get a chance to make something of themselves. Either they are never born, or they are born in a place or time or situation that prevents them from succeeding in the ways we think are important. We tie so much of our self-image to what we do, what we make, what we provide people. We quantify our faith the same way we quantify our success and our worth, and that’s a pretty good way to burn out in life. Really, when it comes to our value, our worth as human beings, it is not about what we do or what makes us. Instead, we are valuable and worthy because we have been made. We have a Creator. He has already made us. We don’t need to make anything of ourselves. He has already done the making. That’s a relief, isn’t it?