Mmhmm.
That’s what you are.
Your value is off-the-charts.
Your worth is far above rubies.
Those kinds of sentiments usually make me roll my eyes.
Like sugary greeting cards or glittery Instagram posts.
Aren’t people puffed up already?
Really… Can our egos even handle another boost?
But a few months ago, Lord nudged me on this.
You are of great value.
Priceless.
And so is that person over there.
Wait, that one, God? Are You sure? They’re awful! They’re evil! You want ego, look no further! That person doesn’t care about You, they don’t love You. They’re completely against You.
Yes. But that person is priceless to Me.
You see, every human is made in God’s image.
Made in His image means that we share in Him.
We possess some of His attributes.
We’re able to communicate with Him.
We have a sense of justice, and mercy, and love.
We can create and think.
We can show kindness and compassion.
We can manage and take care of things well.
Now, clearly all these humans running around aren’t doing it right.
Because of sin, those qualities and capabilities get distorted.
We don’t display them as we should.
How are people supposed to recognize God if we’re not bearing His image?
Here’s an example:
This photo of me is not me.. I’m more than pixels on your screen.
Yet the photo represents me.
If you saw me in real life, you’d recognize me (at least, before winter… no promises you’ll recognize me after hibernation!)
Humans were meant to bear God’s image – to represent Him on earth.
All the angels should be able to recognize God when they see us.
Where does the priceless part come in?
Well, I don’t think it cost God much to make us….
But it sure did to redeem us.
In order to pay for our sins and restore a relationship with us, God had to give up His only begotten Son.
He broke the bank for us!
The Son of God has infinite worth.
He’s so precious, you can’t put a price tag on Him.
And that’s what it took to buy us back.
That’s why I know that God considers us to be priceless.
He showed how much He values us by how much He was willing to give up for us.
And He doesn’t just lavish this love on the ones that have turned to Him.
He values and loves ALL of the messed-up humans in the world.
He desires all image-bearers to come to know the truth.
That just burns within me sometimes:
the awe of how much my God loves people who reject Him.
I know I often don’t represent Him well, and I often don’t value other people like He does.
But He’s so patient and kind with me, reminding me as often as I need it.
You are priceless.
And so is that person over there.
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