I read a very poignant article in a magazine about love and worth. In it, the author interviewed Brother Michael Wilcox in his home and had a conversation with him about women’s worth. On his wall, she saw a scripture from the story of Jacob and Rachel which prompted the path of the discussion. He said:
“‘With all respect to Shakespeare, Austen, and all the other great authors, there is no love story in literature that can match that of Jacob and Rachel, and I have favored it since my youth,” he [said] before telling the Biblical story that many of us are familiar with. He [went] on to say, “I often wonder what Rachel thought during those seven years, as season by season she watched Jacob working with the flocks—knowing that every hour, every day was all for her. Seven long years.”
He continue[d], “The story of Jacob’s seven years of service for Rachel ends with what is surely the most romantic sentence in all literature, more powerful because the sentiment and the story are true. ‘And they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.’”
Wilcox showed me that very verse on the page of scripture that hangs on his wall and asked me, “What does that mean to you?” I told him I thought it meant that the time went by fast because of how much he loved Rachel and he said, “That’s what I always thought it meant too, but I think he is also saying he knew he got a bargain. Seven years were a bargain for Rachel.’”
On the dedication page of his newest book, What Seek Ye, Wilcox writes a tribute to his wife. It is so subtle that if you aren’t looking for it, you might flip right past it without noticing. It reads, “For My Rachel—# Seven.” When his wife Laurie passed away, Wilcox made a promise that he would write seven books in her honor. This book was the seventh.
Laurie has passed on from this life to the next and yet, her husband is still trying to show her that he knows and understands her worth by keeping his promises.” (Morgan Jones, “Morgan Jones: When a friend asked me how I learned a woman’s worth,” LDS Living, Aug. 28, 2020)
Worth is essentially a subjective measurement-its basis comes from how much a person values a thing, and therefore what they are willing to give for it. We show what we most value by the amount of attention and effort we give to it; and often in what we are willing to give up in order to have it. Jacob’s estimation of Rachel’s worth was high. His years of effort did not seem too high a price to him because of how much he valued her.
The world pulls in many different directions-often, in too many to give any one thing a significant portion of our time and care. We risk losing sight of the most important things when we allow ourselves to spend our energy and time on those things we really should value less given their temporary nature. If we say or think eternal relationships and promises are of most worth to us, but don’t give our best, consistent efforts at guarding and growing and cherishing those things, our actions tell a different story of what our treasure truly is.
The Savior, as in all things, shows us perfectly what was of most worth to Him-His Father, and us. He wasted no opportunity, indulged in no moment of selfishness or leisure in His mission to help save God’s children, His brothers and sisters. Our worth to Him is evident by the price He was willing to pay-all of His work, His attention, His teaching, His love, His sacrifice of Himself to bring us back to our Father. His example motivates us to find the beauty and joy in living a life that expresses those things we value most-that which we esteem to be of the greatest worth to us.
