"I am going to give this $20 bill to one of you," the man said. Immediately he had everyone's attention. "But first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the bill.

He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Every hand went up.

"Well," he went on, "what if I do this?" And he dropped the $20 bill on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty, and asked again. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson," he said. "No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.

"Many times in our lives, we are crumpled, dropped, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what may yet happen, you will never lose your value in God's eyes. To Him, dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless."

--Author unknown