“When Jesus looked at people, he saw the image of God. He saw this in everyone.”

A thought by John Ortberg (2012-08-07) from his book, Who Is This Man?: TheUnpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus (p. 26). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

This thought hit me as I was looking for something to share with you today. One thing it said to me was that when Jesus looks at an immigrant, a person of a different race, a poor or rich person, one who thinks different from me, one whose sexual orientation is different from mine, he sees the image of God. As John says, “He saw this in everyone.” And then John goes on to say, “It caused him to treat each person with dignity.” Do we need to do that today? Do we need to treat each person we see with dignity?

And then the thought goes on to say to me that when Jesus looks at me, at you, he sees the image of God.

John shares that “novelist George MacDonald delighted in writing about princesses and princes. Someone asked him why he always wrote about princesses. ‘Because every girl is a princess,’ he said. When the questioner was confused, MacDonald asked what a princess is. ‘The daughter of a king,’ the man answered. ‘Very well, then every little girl is a princess. Every human being is the child of a King.’”

You have worth, great worth but it is not because of your ability, not because of your looks and not because of your wealth. As John says, “The reason every person has great worth, for Jesus, is that every person is loved by God. Each person has what might be called ‘bestowed worth.’”

Take that to heart today. Yes you may have messed up God’s image and you may not feel like a princess or a prince but he still loves you and he still has a plan for your life.

Let him fulfill his plan in and through you?

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