I know I was created in God’s image and yet I’ve struggled with self-worth my entire life. I have believed that I had nothing to offer and could do nothing well. I didn’t come to these beliefs on my own. I came to them because I believed what I was continually told throughout my life. The human voices of those who said they loved me were too loud and too numerous for me to constantly fight or disregard them. Their voices came to mind so many times in a day, especially when I was trying to accomplish something.
Jesus Died For My Sins
However, their words smashed right into the walls of my beliefs as a Christian. I am the daughter of God, how can I not believe that I have worth? I know that God values me and that even if I was the only person on Earth, Jesus would have died for me. My relationship with Him is what has brought me through all the pain and abuse, but, still, I held onto the belief that I held no worth and had no purpose. My firm convictions of both beliefs have been really hard to explain to friends, family and even my counselor. How can I hold both of these beliefs that are in direct contrast with each other? I couldn’t explain…until now.
Jesus died for my sins (and everyone else’s) to pay the price of my sin. He did this completely out of love for me. But this brought with it, for me, the knowledge that I caused Him the pain of His beatings and death and that I had done nothing to earn this love or His sacrifice. In some ways, this confirmed to me that I was worthless and I had no purpose except to cause people problems. I honestly didn’t deserve His gift or the freedom that comes with it. None of us do. But I couldn’t get past my part in His sacrifice.
So what changed? I have started to read back through the bible using my journaling bible. I am doing it one chapter at a time, so it’s going to be a slow reading, but that is good. I’ve found that “talking back or to” books is very cathartic. So I figured it would be the same with the bible. This is the most important book ever and it has shaped who I am. So, I was reading through the story of Noah and came to the part where God was making his covenant with him. God told Noah why murder was so bad and why it deserved such a huge penalty. God made people in His image. I knew this part, but when He stated that the reason killing someone is so grievous is because we are made in His image. That is why we have such worth. To kill or destroy someone is to kill the image of God. We have worth and value even before we take each individual person into account.
Wonderfully Made In God’s Image
This doesn’t mean we are all the same and there is nothing unique or special about each person because that couldn’t be further from the truth. We are a kaleidoscope of colors, talents and meaning. He made each one of us uniquely and with so much purpose. As Psalm 139:14 says, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” The word fearfully in this verse means “in a manner to impress admiration and astonishment”. He loves us for who we are and delights in us. He has so many plans for us.
We could have been made in the image of an animal or just a creation on its own, but God made us in HIS own image. He could have made us lesser than and given us minimal intelligence and talents, but He wanted to give us not only life but a life of depth and intricacies. To murder someone is to kill the very image of God. I had absolutely nothing to do with God making me in His own image. That was completely His gift of love to all of us. He loved (and loves) us so much that He fashioned us after Himself and placed His worth on us. I have great worth because I am made in God’s image and there is nothing I said or did to deserve or alter this gift.
You also have great worth for this same reason. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
~ Joanna Lynn
