There are three different values for your home. There is the market value; for how much can you sell it. This is based on the selling prices of the other homes in your neighborhood and the size and condition comparison with those homes. Then there is the tax value. This is set also in relationship to the market value but usually is lower. That gives the community room to raise your taxes if they are in dire straits. Finally there is the replacement value of your home based on square footage and how much per square foot it would cost to rebuild. That is usually much higher than the first two and for which we should insure.
The question arises how much are you and I worth? There is market value. Since we no longer sell each other at slave auctions we could say nil. There is our tax value. In America we do not have a head tax but in many countries that does exist. When we lived in Africa each year I had to pay a “poll tax” even though I did not qualify to vote. It was a head tax for breathing Ugandan air. I was worth seven dollars a year. Finally there is replacement value. What would it cost to replace you or me? This is a life insurance issue for a man who wants to be sure his family is cared for if something bad happens. How much money can we earn in a year and how many years do we have a wife and children to care for. That number can get very high.
But wait there is a fourth value. It is related to eternity. Satan says we are worthless. Human life is dirt cheap for him. However God says, “Wait a minute. My child (you or I) is worth everything. They are worth the cross.” Awesome!
Written by Roger Bothwell on March 5, 2012
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothell.org