I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written,
every one of them, the days that were formed or me,
when as yet there was non of them.
Psalm 139:14-16 (English Standard). The speaker noted that, certainly, God has made us fearfully and wonderfully, and that we can rejoice in the fact that even our personalities, mental abilities, and appearance are not a mistake on His part. While a beautiful and encouraging reminder, what she shared after this stuck out to me. She noted that while the it is true that WE are fearfully and wonderfully made, we also need to recognize that EVERYONE else is, too. We should be seeing other individuals as just as treasured in God's eyes, and love them accordingly.
The Bible constantly points us to the example of Christ and how He lived -- and died -- on this earth. He loved others perfectly.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:3-8 (English Standard)
At a Biblical Discipleship conference last Saturday, the speaker shared a truth that true Christians need to be constantly remembering: Your love for others will be in proportion to your love for God. There's that theme of seeing others as treasured by God and loving them.
By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not o God, nor is the one who does not love his brother . . . . Beloved let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. . . . Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 3: 10, 4:7-8, and 11 (English Standard). Scripture is filled with affirmation of the statement that our love for others will be an evidence of our love for God. Ask yourself: do I love others as Christ has loved me, above myself and beyond my comfort zone? Do I care for the brother or sister next to me, for whom Christ has died?
Bonus passage:
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (English Standard).
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