Value Added

Last night Sue and I attended a $150 a plate fund raising dinner for a good cause.  There were provincial representatives, a mayor, council members, the police chief, a number of other dignitaries, and it featured displays of remarkable talent.  There was a silent auction with an impressive array of offerings as well as a drawing for a very expensive item.  The people involved were sincere, passionate, and generous.  But something was off.  

The first moment came when the speaker referred to the “commodity of compassion.”  The second came with the all-too-familiar reference to “adding value” to people, through services and things.    

Adding a building – or a home, or a second home, or a farm or a new location -- doesn’t add value to you.  You are valuable.  Adding clothes or jewelry or tattoos doesn’t add value to you.  You are a treasure.  Adding degrees or certificates or credentials to your resume doesn’t add value to you.  You are priceless.  Adding status or popularity or a good reputation to your name doesn’t add value to you.  You are significant.  You matter.  You are of immense worth.  You bear the stamp of God himself.  Value added?  

When God created us at the beginning, he made us a reflection of himself.  He made us like he is.  He gave us a role that includes the care and custody of creation – a daunting task and privilege.  He made us – men and women equally – “in his own image.” 

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

Genesis 1: 26, 27

You don’t get more value added than that.  And because you carry God’s likeness within you, you are a child of the King.  You don’t need things or degrees or other people’s approval to make you matter, and nothing you have done can make you stop being in his image.  You can desecrate it, but you can’t disown it.  You can act contrary to your best capabilities, but you still matter, you are still worthy, you are still priceless and glorious.  You are made in the image of God. 

It is a truth that can solve any self-image issues you have and propel you toward purposeful living. You matter.  You are glorious.  Yes, you need an antidote for the bent within each of us to deface the glory within. And there is such a cure.  But you are of priceless value, of glorious significance, and you share a piece of divine real estate with the rest of humanity – right there inside you.