How to Find True Wealth and Worth.

In this podcast episode, Amber shares personal stories and insights to encourage listeners to redefine their perceptions of wealth and worth through a Christ-centered lens.  She recounts childhood memories of living in unconventional homes with a back-to-nature lifestyle, highlighting the contrast between societal measures of wealth and the true value found in a life centered on Christ, family, and service. The discussion delves into the pitfalls of comparing oneself to others and listening to worldly voices over God's words, drawing from scripture and personal anecdotes to illustrate how understanding one's belovedness as a child of God is crucial to recognizing true worth.

Follow Amber on Instagram

Watch on YouTube

Song- Own Your Belovedness by Sarah Kroger

00:00 Welcome to Hope Smiling Brightly
00:13 Listener Love and Gratitude
01:15 Sponsor Shoutout: Thrive Life
01:58 Episode Introduction: Finding True Wealth and Worth
02:18 A Hippie Childhood: Embracing Simplicity
09:14 The True Meaning of Wealth and Worth
13:28 Overcoming Comparison and Embracing God's Love
16:57 The Power of Words and Believing in Our Worth
22:56 Owning Your Belovedness
27:43 Conclusion: Trusting in the Lord's View of Us

Transcript

Amber: 0:00

Elder Richard G. Scott said, Your trust in the Lord must be more powerful and enduring than your confidence in your own personal feelings and experience. You are listening to Hope Smiling Brightly. Thank you so much for joining in again, and thank you so much for all of your kind and generous reviews. Over and over again, I am seeing a similar theme in the reviews that you leave, and I couldn't be happier. For example. Thank you for sharing these incredible stories and giving us ideas and suggestions for coming unto Christ. Another one, what a great perspective on the nature of God in our lives. And one more, always pointing us back to Christ. Thank you for answering the call to be a witness of Christ. There is no greater compliment to me than You feeling closer to Christ or feeling the desire to come to know Christ better after listening to my podcast. Your positive ratings and reviews help my podcast reach more people. So I really appreciate the time you take to rate and review my podcast. I am so grateful to be able to have the time and means to produce this podcast, but it wouldn't be possible without Thrive Life. Thrive Life is the best freeze dried food that you can possibly find with a 25 year shelf life, high quality food, and a delicious taste. You cannot put a price tag on peace of mind and preparedness. So go to amber. thrivelife. com and set up a delivery to get 15 percent off retail price and free shipping on any orders over a hundred dollars. Ready for another one? Here we go. You are listening to episode four of the Hope Smiling Brightly podcast, how to find true wealth and worth. Just a side note to add more context to the things I'll share in this podcast. you may want to listen to episode three, if you haven't already. My parents have always said you can take the hippie out of the commune, but you can't take the hippie out of the hippie. And oh, wasn't that true. After my parents left the commune, our home still had all the makings of a hippie life, With no plumbing and all natural living. Outside, you could find chickens, goats, pigs, an organic garden. Inside, you could find my mom making homemade wheat bread in a wood burning oven. I really think my mom needs some sort of special award for that. I'm lucky if I make it to the store to buy bread these days. Yeah, I was that kid at school that had the crumbly homemade wheat bread sandwich staring at the other kids in envy as they ate their white rainbow bread with American cheese and Miracle Whip. and bologna. One day I convinced one of my friends to just let me try a bite. I had never tasted this foreign food before. Oh, was it music in my mouth. When I took that first bite, I went home and asked my mom, please, please, please, if we could have these foods called miracle whip and bologna and American cheese and white bread. My mother was aghast and explained to me that none of that was actually real food. In fact, that cheese was probably plastic. I gave up on my white bread dreams after that. When I wasn't at school, home life was always a fun adventure. Instead of a neat playset outside, we had a broken down station wagon that was the most awesome Millennium Falcon. My favorite play set was a broken down Volkswagen bug that could take me places in my imagination that no running car could ever go. And who needs a dinky metal swing set When you had a dad that was willing to fashion together three telephone poles to make the most epic swing set ever, that swing set could rival some Disney rides. We could get so high on that swing set. And I'm talking about the good kind of high here. But along with that hippie lifestyle was family home evening and scripture study and church every single Sunday. We truly loved our lives. But there was one small problem. The area we lived in was becoming increasingly popular, and actually a little hoity toity. And that just wasn't for my parents. They cared more about being out in nature, and the beauty of open space, than a nice home. So they started asking around and some hippie friends that had moved out into the mountains told them about some land and a small home that had just come up for sale right near them. It was a 1000 square foot house on 26 acres of beautiful forested land. And well, it came at a great deal because the former owner was a drug dealer and had been sadly murdered in a drug deal gone wrong. But that didn't stop my parents from turning this place into their home.. They wanted their children to live an adventure, and oh, was it ever. Eight miles of dirt road, and the final mile before you got to our house. I don't even know if it would qualify for a road. It was just two ruts, and of course, us kids who never were in seatbelts, loved seeing how high we could bounce around in the back of the car as we drove down that road. The home had a well and an outdoor spigot. But once again, no plumbing and no electricity. We couldn't even get electricity if we wanted to. There were no electrical lines. None of the homes in that valley had any electricity. The home was a simple rectangle with a loft. There was a greenhouse where the former owner used to grow his weed, but we ripped that out, and over time, the house morphed into whatever our needs were, adding a room here, a room there, a room in the back, a room above. It definitely was a piecemeal house, but it fit our needs. By this time, there were six of us. Much of our time was spent hiking, playing made up games, riding a bike when there was one that didn't have a flat tire, building forts, and, my favorite, hunting Rattlesnake. And yes, we had to eat whatever we hunted. If anyone has told you that Rattlesnake tastes like chicken, they're lying. It tastes more like rubber. For heating, there was a wood burning stove. We had a gas refrigerator so that we could keep our food cold. For cooling, well, just open a window or go outside. For light, we had these tall, skinny propane tanks that a gas lantern would sit on top of, that we would turn on at night. And if we were lucky, every now and then, the flashlights had batteries that weren't dead. For clean clothes, we would go to the laundromat once a week, but save a few quarters by bringing the wet clothes home and hanging them on the line to dry. In the summers, I loved working with my mom in our outdoor kitchen. We would cook many of our meals over a fire pit, then we'd heat up water to wash the dishes. We were basically camping. And as kids, we loved it. For bathing, we'd also heat up that water and sponge bath, or at one point, my dad got the genius idea to get a horse trough and fill it up with water, build a fire underneath it, and we would all take turns bathing. I didn't love that because I was one of the youngest which meant I got one of the last baths. But the real treat about once a week, we would all load up in the car and drive into town and shower at the local KOA. I loved that. I know that the life my parents chose is not the life that most people would choose. In fact, it was probably pretty odd to most people. But for them, their life was real wealth. Their life was real worth, because they knew Christ, because they had family and friends that they loved and served. So I'm going to ask you, what do you use to gauge wealth and worth? We all do this, whether we realize it Or not. You're going to laugh at what I thought was wealth and worth as a little girl. For me, in our wealthy life, my favorite part was getting to be outdoors in nature so much. My least favorite part was having to go to the bathroom in said outdoors. I. hated not having a toilet. I loathed going to the bathroom in an outhouse, even though my dad was nice enough to paint it fluorescent green so that we could see it in the middle of the night. I disliked it so much that when I realized most of my friends had toilets in their houses, I was so jealous, but really, I thought, wow, you have to be pretty special if you have a toilet in your house. And I knew they had to be very rich. In reality, we lived in a very humble area. Most people lived in mobile homes. But from my perspective, a toilet was wealth. A toilet was worth. I remember hearing about a girl whose family recently got a double wide mobile home and rumor had it, not only did she have a toilet in the house, But she had a toilet right in her bedroom. I wasn't sure if I believed that was quite true. So I'm here to tell you, right here and right now, if you have a toilet in your house, I think you are pretty darn amazing.

11:44

And man, if my husband only knew when he was trying to convince me to marry him, that all he had to say is, Hey, if you marry me, I promise you a toilet inside right next to the bedroom. That's all it would have taken. But isn't it interesting how our perspectives form how we determine worth and wealth?

Amber: 12:15

Really, we all have our silly if thens. If we would take the time to sit down and analyze,"What am I determining worth by and wealth by?" We'd actually kind of laugh at ourselves. If I have so many kids, if I have a particular calling, if I've been invited to something special, if I have so many likes on Facebook, All these ifs that we think then determine the wealth and worth of our life. And really, they're as silly as me thinking that a toilet made somebody worthy.

13:04

In reality, there is only one if then that is true and matters. If you are a child of God, then you are of infinite worth. So how do we get the source of wealth and worth so mixed up? I believe there are two main reasons, and I want to talk a little bit about them with you today. The first one is we like to compare. The second We tend to listen to words of the world more than we listen to the words of God. Let's talk a little bit about comparison. What have we decided that we have to have in our lives to have joy? Elder Uctdorf said God is fully aware that you and I are not perfect. Let me add. God is also fully aware that the people you think are perfect. are not. And yet we spend so much time and energy comparing ourselves to others, usually comparing our weaknesses to their strengths. This drives us to create expectations for ourselves that are impossible to meet as a result, we never celebrate our good efforts because they seem to be less than what someone else does. Close quote, you know, the same comparison is the thief of joy. It's also the thief of real wealth, the thief of real worth I want you to hear, God speaking to you in this verse, I'm going to share in D&C 67, verse one and two, behold, and hearken my child, whose prayers I have heard whose hearts I know, and whose desires have come up before me. Behold and lo, my eyes are upon you, and the heavens and the earth are in mine hands, and the riches of eternity are mine to give. Man, it is wealth to know and believe those words. If our only comparison was how much God loved one child to the next, there would be absolutely nothing to compare. His love is the same. And if his love is the same, our worth is the same, and what we inherit from him is the same. In Isaiah 46:16, it says, Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. Thy walls are continually before me. Now when he says thy walls, I want you to envision the walls of your home. That's what he's saying, that your circumstances, what is all around you. is continually before him. He is aware of it. And those words are for every child of God in any circumstance. There is no reason to compare. To the second point that gets us mixed up about wealth and worth, hearing and believing the words of others more than the words of God. Because we lived out in the middle of nowhere and we did go to public school, our bus rides were really long and we were in assigned seats. Unfortunately, my spot was next to one of the meanest kids on the bus. He never called me by my name. Sometimes he would call me brat, annoying, stuck up, always he would call me dumbo. I heard these words every morning and every afternoon for a year, and they stuck with me. They stuck with me to the point that I wouldn't wear my hair back in a ponytail until I was well into my 20s because I believed what a person said over what I saw in the mirror. Words are powerful. I believed those words that I was annoying. A brat stuck up so much to the point that when I made a friend who really liked me, I was always shocked. So how do we get rid of those lies and replace it with truth? I love the example of Mary, the mother of Jesus, when she was told who she truly was And given one of the most overwhelming and beautiful responsibilities a human could receive. She responded, Behold, the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word. Can you hear those words a little differently? Breaking that down a little bit. First, she acknowledged that she was willing to serve the Lord. And second, she acknowledged that whatever the Lord told her about who she was, she would believe, be it unto me according to thy word, not unto the world's word, unto the stranger's word, the neighbor's word, the family member's word, unto God's word. It's helpful to ask ourselves. Whose word are we believing and living up to? Oh, do we ever live in a world of lies trying to destroy our identity right now? President Spencer W. Kimball said, Seek opportunities for service. Don't be overly concerned with status. Do you recall the counsel of our Savior regarding those who seek the chief seats and the uppermost rooms? He that is greatest among you shall be your servant. It is important to be appreciated, but our focus should be on righteousness, not recognition, on service, not status. No greater recognition can come to you in this world than to be known as a woman, and I'll add man, of God, close quote. To know and believe those words for yourself, that you are a man or a woman of God, is more powerful than we realize. How does it happen? How do we let God's word change us? Jacob 4:9 says, For behold, by the power of his word, man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God, being able to speak, and the world was, and to speak, and man was created, O then, why not able to command the earth or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure. We are the workmanship of his hands. When we use our agency to accept his words, that is when change comes into our lives in Mosiah 27:25, it says, and the Lord said unto me, marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people must be born again, yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God. becoming his sons and daughters. In our carnal and fallen state, we are more likely to believe the lies that the world, the adversary, our own thoughts tell us, but part of the process of being redeemed of God is shedding all of those false labels. Truly think about what it is to be his son or daughter. How did Heavenly Father always refer to his son? How did he describe him? My beloved son. Here's a mindset that can completely change how you see yourself and thus, how you show up in each day. It all surrounds owning up. To own up is to confess, take full admission, acknowledge, take responsibility and accountability for. Often when we think of owning up, we might think of something negative we'd rather not admit to, but isn't it interesting that here's something beautiful that most people are afraid to own up to. Own up to your belovedness. Why would we rather not admit to something as empowering as our belovedness? What would happen if we took full responsibility for it? How would each day be different? How would we show up, use our time, react, if we 100 percent owned up? To the fact that we are dearly loved. Instead, we find it easier to own feelings of not measuring up or never being enough. How do we live and act when those are the kinds of things we own up to? Synonymous with the phrase own up is the phrase take upon to take upon is to take the responsibility for except as a charge. Where have we heard this phrase? We have covenanted to take upon us the name of his son. To take upon the name of Christ is to take upon his characteristics, including how loved he is. What if we took ownership of the name of his son, his Beloved Son?, taking upon us the name of the Savior is to take upon us own up to the reality that we are beloved just like him to always remember him is to always remember our belovedness. This is one way to keep one of the greatest commandments to love our neighbor as ourselves, that we may always have his spirit to be with us. I can't think of anything more devoid of the Spirit than when we own berating thoughts. On the other hand, nothing is more peaceful and empowering than believing in how beloved we are. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. John 15:9. There is a beautiful song called Own Your Belovedness by Sarah Kroger, and I'll leave a link for it in the show notes. The message she shares is so powerful, I want to share a bit of it here. She helps us realize how good we are at owning our fear, our self loathing, the voices in our head, our shame, the reproach of our failure. We're so good at owning our past and how it's defined us, owning everything that everybody else says. We own the mess we see in the mirror that isn't even reality. We own the lies that we aren't enough. We blind ourselves by comparing. It is finally time to hear what the Father has spoken. To own your belovedness. He says, you're mine. I smiled when I made you. I find you beautiful in every way. My love for you is fierce and unending. I'll come to find you, whatever it takes. Please let beautiful words like these sink into your soul, overcome the lies that others, that the adversary, that the world has told you. The question I'd like to offer you this week is to turn to God and ask him, what do you love about me? Why is it so important for us to know the answer to that question? Because when we don't know our worth, we seek to fill that void with the wrong things. I'll be addressing this topic more in future episodes. Let's go back to that quote I gave at the very beginning of this podcast. In the context of what we've just talked about, your trust in the Lord must be more powerful and enduring than your confidence in your own personal feelings and experience. So often the conclusions that we've drawn about ourselves from negative experiences that we have that are very real to us are nothing but lies. But God can replace those with truth. We have to extend that trust in his word, his word about you, his word for you. In Mosiah 5:21, it says, I would that ye should remember to retain the name written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the left hand of God, but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also the name by which he shall call you. That name is Jesus Christ. Christ is true wealth. Christ is true worth. Christ is hope, smiling brightly.