Value in Personality

After five hundred eighty six pages of Les Mis, the theme of a person’s worth is still a major part of the book and still makes me think more deeply about it. This time I focused on a different quote, about a different person, but that has direct connection to every other part of the book, “having the good sense, while very conscious of the royal blood in his veins, to value himself at his true worth”. This is speaking of the French king, Louis- Philippe, and how he did not find the source of his value in his ancestry. Previously I stressed the point that we must, in order to be fulfilled and fulfill others, treasure ourselves, but this is when the question arises. When comes the moment to reject some of the value placed in us, by those around us? In this quote, after going over it for some time, I found the answer.

A king is usually seen as a person that had great worth and great importance, just because he is king. The quote above on the other hand is talking about the true worth of a king. What the quote explains to us is that Louis-Philippe valued himself for who he was, not what he was. He did not root his value in his “divine right”, but rather in himself, as an individual. He saw his worth not in the title that he received because he was born into a family that was entitled to do so, but in the person became through his choices, hard work and perseverance.  

We as humans should treasure ourselves for who we are, but sometimes we decide that our value is greater than that of another person because we look better, study harder or know more. This is a big mistake and in this case we need to catch ourselves and instead follow the example of the French king. We should remember what our true worth is in, it is in Christ our Lord, in our Redeemer. We also have to be vigilant not to treat others as less deserving of love, compassion and admiration, just because of the circumstances of their birth or life.