Black Women Have It Going On

Hello from Colorado, where the mountains continue to remind me that what we see on the surface is rarely the whole story. Beneath those peaks are layers of rock, history, and time that I will never fully see. Sometimes people are like that, too. There are layers to every person that cannot be measured from the outside.

Today is Wednesday, August 26, 2026, and my faith is permanently secured in Christ Jesus!

This week, we’ve been talking about the “wooden nickel”—something that looks valuable but isn’t worth what we’ve been led to believe. On Monday, we talked about accepting less than we’re worth. Yesterday, we talked about identity and the importance of knowing our value.

Today, I want to ask a harder question:

Who put a price on you?

That question has been on my mind as I’ve thought more about my own heritage. As a Black American, I cannot think about identity without acknowledging the painful history of slavery and the ways human beings were once assigned a monetary value as though a person’s life could be bought and sold.

The transatlantic slave trade was not simply a story about labor. It was a system that reduced human beings to property. People were captured, sold, transported, separated from their families, and forced to labor for the financial benefit of others.

And yet, human beings have always been more valuable than whatever price someone placed on them.

That truth doesn’t belong only to history.

We still live in a world where people can be assigned value according to their usefulness. We see it when someone is appreciated only for what they provide, when a worker is treated as replaceable, when a person stays in an unhealthy relationship because they have been convinced they aren’t worth more, or when someone allows another person’s opinion to determine their identity.

Different circumstances. Same underlying problem.

Someone else has decided what you are worth.

But who gave them that authority?

I’ve had to ask myself that question.

After years of caring for family and being there for other people, I can see how easy it is to become defined by what you do for everyone else. You become the caregiver, the helper, the problem-solver, the dependable one. Eventually, you can forget that underneath all those roles is simply you.

And you are valuable even when you aren’t fixing something for someone else.

That realization matters to me as I enter this next season of my life.

My value isn’t determined by how much I can carry.

It isn’t determined by how useful I am.

It isn’t determined by how many problems I can solve.

And it certainly isn’t determined by someone else’s willingness to appreciate me.

God established my value long before anyone else had an opportunity to place a price on it.

That’s why I don’t want to accept wooden nickels anymore—not from people, relationships, environments, or even from myself.

I want to recognize the difference between being genuinely valued and simply being useful.

Because once you understand that difference, you begin to make different choices.

And that is where real freedom begins.

Call to Action

Today, ask yourself a difficult but important question: Who have I allowed to determine my worth?

Think about the people, relationships, environments, or circumstances that have influenced the way you see yourself.

Then ask yourself another question: Am I being genuinely valued, or am I simply being valued for what I can provide?

You may not have every answer today. But asking the right question can be the beginning of reclaiming your value.

Scripture

“For ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.” — 1 Corinthians 7:23 (KJV)

Prayer

Father, help me recognize the difference between being valued and simply being useful.

For the places where I have allowed someone else’s opinion to determine my worth, give me clarity. For the relationships where I have given more than I should, give me wisdom. And for the times I have forgotten my own value, remind me who I am in You.

Help me release every false price that has been placed upon my life.

Teach me to walk away from anything that requires me to surrender my peace, dignity, or identity just to feel accepted.

Thank You for reminding me that my worth was established by You long before anyone else could place a price on me.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Spiritual Seal

Until tomorrow, remember this:

Nobody gets to place a price on something God has already declared valuable.

You don’t have to prove your worth. You don’t have to earn your right to exist in a room. And you don’t have to become useful to someone else just to deserve respect.

Know your value. Protect your peace. And when someone hands you a wooden nickel, have the wisdom to recognize that it isn’t payment for something priceless.

I’ll see you tomorrow, right here from Colorado. ❤️