ONLY GOD CAN FULLY APPREHEND THE IMMEASURABLE WORTH OF EVERY PERSON.
(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.)
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS STATEMENT?
DO YOU THINK POSSIBLY THAT YOU MAY BE WORTH MORE THAN YOU THINK?
CAN YOU THINK OF SOMETHING ABOUT YOU THAT IS UNIQUE, THAT GOD AND OTHERS FIND BEAUTIFUL?
The Western world offers people significant opportunities not available in many countries. People in the west are generally free from political oppression. They enjoy the potential for economic success and its resulting benefits and comforts. Although imperfect, western culture provides individuals with what many desire. But these opportunities fail to give people what they want most: emotional health, contentment, peace, and joy. Suicide rates, mental health services, and pharmaceuticals all point to a crisis in Western culture.
At the core of this crisis is our view our ourselves, our image of who we are, and our understanding of what we are worth. Specifically, humanity in general perceives the person to be far less worthy than is true. The human mind is incapable of grasping the incredible worth of every person, including itself. Truly, only God can see how valuable the human person is. And so, we all live with a sense of self-worth that is far less than true.
In The Weight of Glory, C. S. Lewis says, "The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor's glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship."
I can think of nothing more important, today than for every person to "think greatly" about themselves and their neighbors. Not with arrogance, but with humility, to consider the incredible worth of the human soul. As Lewis says, we recognize that our neighbor's glory far exceeds our ability to comprehend. And that my glory also exceeds my ability to grasp.
If everyone were to greatly honor and respect the worth of every person, most problems in the world would go away. If we were to regard every person, regardless of their color, race, or political system, as invaluable, it would be unthinkable to harm or oppress them. Wars would cease, oppression would end, and humanity would co-exist without conflict. Even trying to manipulate or use another person would become unthinkable and unacceptable.
To do right by others and follow Jesus' command to love one another, we must deeply respect, honor, and value each other. Paul writes in Philippians 2:3, "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves." Paul is not saying that others are worth more, only that we should treat each other with great value. And when he adds "one another" it means that "I treat you as more important than me and that you treat me as more important than you."
So, in the end, each person gets treated as important, valued, and worthy. How we treat each other reflects how we view each other. Our actions toward another flow out of our attitude toward that person. When we try to act as though we love someone but fail to see them as worthy of our love, our actions will be inauthentic and unsustainable. In the end, it will likely be self-serving and manipulative.
There is simply no person created by God that does not deserve to be treated as holy and with incomparable value. Sadly, only God is capable of doing this because only God can see each person with the worth they deserve. In our faulty and imperfect image of ourselves, we are also incapable of seeing others with the worth they deserve.