Somewhere in time we were all taught that we deserved something, because we are alive and human we intrinsically deserve to be given value. As a result, we translate that truth into something that is untrue. Do I deserve things because I am human? Yes, but I do not deserve anything and everything because I am human? Just because I find value in myself does not mean that others will find the same value in me as I do. I once was a professional baseball pitcher. I was good and, based on what I saw around me, I was destined to be in the big leagues. Others told me what I believed about myself, that one day I would be on TV as a big-league pitcher. Then, at the end of March I was told by one man that I should go find a job I had a future in, because baseball was not it. He determined my future because he could. He was the boss. He decided my value. I could have argued, made a scene, threatened him and those around him or I could accept a harsh reality. I wept and left because I knew, no matter how desperately I wanted something, it was not mine to take. Contentment is a difficult thing because we may all have a wrong opinion of our value. Jussie Smollett may want more money, a better role, a better public image, but in reality, he is searching for value in all the wrong places. Value is not mine to determine.
– Pastor Doug
