Same Players. New Jersey.

The Erie Seawolves—a Double-A baseball team—are suiting up as the Erie Moon Mammoths for four games this summer.

John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight picked Erie out of 47 teams and gifted them a full rebrand—including the name, logo, and mascot—completely on Oliver's terms.

And in typical Oliver fashion, he described minor league baseball as “clearly both incredibly special and inescapably stupid in the very best way.”

So what effect did this promotion have?

Normal Seawolves tickets? Under $20.
Moon Mammoths standing-room tickets? Hundreds or thousands of dollars on StubHub.

Same players. Same field. Same game. New jerseys.

And suddenly, it all feels more valuable.

It seems silly... until we realized that we do the same thing every day.

New clothes. New titles. New filters. Hoping that if we change the outside, the inside will finally feel like enough.

So which comes first? Do we dress better to feel valuable? Or do we understand our worth—and then carry ourselves accordingly?

Here’s what I believe. Our true value doesn’t come from what we wear, what we post, or how we’re perceived. It’s not found in trends, likes, followers, or viral moments. And deep down, we already know that.

But the real question is this: Where DOES our value come from?

A dollar doesn’t determine its own worth. Neither does a baseball ticket. Value is always assigned by someone else.

Who decides your worth?

There’s only one valid, unchanging answer to that question: God.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him.”
—Genesis 1:27

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”
—Isaiah 43:1

That kind of identity doesn’t need validation. It doesn’t rise and fall with public opinion. It doesn’t vanish on bad days or shrink under criticism.

Today you have a choice. You can chase the hype of a new jersey, letting the world tell you what you’re worth.

Or you can live rooted in this truth:
You were chosen, made, and known by the One who created you.

When that is your starting point…
The jersey becomes armor—not identity.
Something you wear, not someone you are.

And that is value no man can change.