Friday April 24, 2020

Your Daily Dose of Inspiration:

God has a way of exalting the lowly, and humbling those who have exalted themselves. Whichever direction He is taking you, know that it is for your benefit that He does so. As we understand that we are created in His image and thus have an eternal value which cannot be removed, we ought to begin to view not only ourselves as valuable, but all other people with whom we interact. All people are created in the image of God, so that means the way we treat people matters.

Mark 12:29-31 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. (30) And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (31) The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

We are constantly told, in the Bible, that loving people is vitally important. We are told that the way we treat each other matters not only on a day to day level, but on an eternal level. Why is it that when Jesus was asked to name the most important law, He named two? It is because loving God and loving people are inextricably linked. If we love God, then we will love that which was created in His image. Likewise, if we are to truly love people (the image of God) then we will we also love God. You cannot properly do one without the other. When we really consider the intrinsic worth of each person, it should affect the way we treat them.

Imagine, for a moment, that a wealthy person asked you to care for their house while they were away on a long trip. You had the freedom to do as you wished in the house, but you would be held financially and legally responsible for the state of the house upon their return. How would treat the house? Would you be careless and destructive, or would treat it with care and concern? I imagine that you would try to be as careful and conscientious and possible, so that when the owner returns, He will have no cause for complaint. Why then do we treat people so poorly? Every person with whom we come in contact, has been given to our care for that moment. Whether it is the family with whom we live, the friends with whom we commune, or the strangers who come and go, we have opportunity with all to either care for, or destroy.

Luke 10:30-37 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. (31) Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. (32) So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. (33) But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. (34) He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. (35) And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ (36) Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” (37) He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

You see that the righteous person, the good Samaritan, was the one who took on the care of another, even though they were cultural enemies. The way that person cared for his fellow man, because he recognized that person’s intrinsic worth, revealed his righteousness and love for God. It is never a question of who deserves to be loved, but rather a question of whether we will recognize the image of God in each person we meet.

-Jared Freeman, “Intrinsic Worth”