Saturday April 25, 2020

Your Daily Dose of Inspiration:

Matthew 25:31-46 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. (32) Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. (33) And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. (34) Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (35) For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, (36) I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ (37) Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? (38) And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? (39) And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ (40) And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (41) “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (42) For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, (43) I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ (44) Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ (45) Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ (46) And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Whether you value a person will always come out in the way you treat them. We may talk about each person being made in the image of God, we may declare that every person has intrinsic worth, but if that does not translate into real behavior, then we have done nothing but deceive ourselves. As a Christian, you are an extension and representative of the will of God. When He created man, He declared it good. When man showed Himself wicked, still did God love him. When man made Himself the enemy of God, God died for him. Do we think that we can treat each other any less than how God has treated us? John 15:12 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. How did Christ love us? By laying His life down for our sake. By treating us as those of great worth. In fact, He treated us as more important than Himself.

Philippians 2:3-8 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. (4) Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (5) Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, (6) who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, (7) but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (8) And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

If this is how we have been loved by Christ, how then can we treat each other any less? If this is the extent too which we are valued by God, how then can we value ourselves and others any less? This is the intrinsic worth of humanity, that God laid down His life for their sake, that they might find His salvation. That is the measure of your worth and the worth of your neighbor. It has been expressed by the Creator and deserves our fullest attention and expression. We have been made in the image of God, let us treat each other like it.

-Jared Freeman, “Intrinsic Worth”