I am sharing a post sent to me by a friend and brother in Christ. Hope you get the message as I do.

A little boy went to his grandfather and asked him, “What is the value of life grandfather?”

The grandfather gave him a stone and said, “First I want you to find out the value of this stone, but don’t sell it.”

The boy took the stone to a fruit vendor and asked him what its value would be.

The vendor saw the shiny stone and said, “How about you can take a dozen apples and give me the stone.”

The boy apologized and said that his grandfather had asked him not to sell it.

He went ahead and found a vegetable vendor.

“What could be the value of this stone?” he asked the vegetable vendor.

He saw the shiny stone and said, “How about you take a sack of potatoes and give me that stone.”

The boy again apologized and said he couldn’t sell it.

Further ahead, he went into a jewelry shop and asked the value of the stone.

The jeweler saw the stone under a lens and said, “I will give you one million dollars for this stone.”

The boy was surprised, but explained that he couldn’t sell the stone.

Further ahead, the boy saw a large shop of precious stones and asked the value of this stone.

When the precious stone shop owner was an expert in these matters. When he saw the stone, he lay down a cloth and put it on it.

Then he walked in circles around the stone and bent down and scratched his head in front of it. “From where did you bring this priceless uncut diamond from?” he asked.

“Even if I sell everything I own, my whole shop, I won’t be able to purchase this priceless diamond.”

Stunned and confused, the boy returned to his grandfather and told him what had happened.

His grandfather said,

“The answers you got from the fruit vendor, the vegetable vendor, the jeweler and the precious stone’s expert explain the value of our life.

You may be a precious stone, even priceless, but, people will value you based on their own limited perceptions, beliefs, motives and expectations. How they value you says more about them than it does about you!

For this reason it is important to value yourself. Respect yourself. No longer indulge in meaningless comparisons with others. For you are unique, original and the only one of your kind in this universe. This is the value of your life.

Associate ever more with those who recognize your true value and ever less with those who see you just as a means to fulfill their own dreams and ambitions.

*May you value the diamond in yourself and recognize the diamond in others as well in 2017*

Godfrey Gregg