Human value is not comparable to numbers. 1 is equal to 1. 2 is not equal to 1, 2 is greater than 1. Humanity is not like that. Humanity is more like the alphabet. No letter is greater than another. They all look different & sound different yet they are always intersecting to make something great together.
This is why recognizing diversity is the key to valuing people rather than the idea of equality. Equality can remove identity & genericize humanity to where we end up making nothing out to be special. But when we see the diverse attributes of one another then we can value people for the excitement of who they uniquely are. So instead of looking at people as math equations, 1 human = 1 human, you can look at me & I can look at you & say, "YOU are awesome!"
Showing posts with label value. Show all posts
Showing posts with label value. Show all posts
Friday, June 21, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
No Longer Falling Short..
"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" is not supposed to be a verse that Christians use to feel guilty about their weaknesses. The very next verse says, "People are declared righteous through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." Glory means "great value." Redeem means "to restore value." No matter how much we had fallen short of God's glory through salvation in Jesus He much more raises us up to His glory! So you as a Christian never again need to speak of how you "fall short of God's glory." If you still do then you think your value is based upon your behavior. Not even the best behavior could reach God's glorious value but He has given us the value of Jesus as a gift.
To call yourself unworthy is untrue. To say that you "fall short of the glory of God" because of your actions is untrue. What kind of father wants his son or daughter to think that he or she is "unworthy" to be his child. God made you eternally worthy because He birthed you Himself by His Spirit. The bible says righteousness is a gift. God made all His children righteous yet for years I never heard a single Christian say, "I am righteous." At the same time, it was almost impossible to encounter a Christian who didn't speak of their unworthiness.
So many self-professed Christians were taught to look back at their salvation as if it were this:
"I first met my father on Christmas day. He kept telling me how sinful & unworthy I am. I apologized to him. He accepted my apology by saying, 'Now that you've met me I'll tell you how to earn your Christmas gifts from me.' He told me a little but mostly he just kept telling me how sinful I am & how unworthy I am to be his child. He said it was his job to remind me of how much I fall short. Because of my unworthiness I have never been able to receive a single one of his gifts."
To call yourself unworthy is untrue. To say that you "fall short of the glory of God" because of your actions is untrue. What kind of father wants his son or daughter to think that he or she is "unworthy" to be his child. God made you eternally worthy because He birthed you Himself by His Spirit. The bible says righteousness is a gift. God made all His children righteous yet for years I never heard a single Christian say, "I am righteous." At the same time, it was almost impossible to encounter a Christian who didn't speak of their unworthiness.
So many self-professed Christians were taught to look back at their salvation as if it were this:
"I first met my father on Christmas day. He kept telling me how sinful & unworthy I am. I apologized to him. He accepted my apology by saying, 'Now that you've met me I'll tell you how to earn your Christmas gifts from me.' He told me a little but mostly he just kept telling me how sinful I am & how unworthy I am to be his child. He said it was his job to remind me of how much I fall short. Because of my unworthiness I have never been able to receive a single one of his gifts."
Friday, October 5, 2012
Lifted Up to His Glory
"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God but all are declared righteous through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:23-24)
Glory can be defined as "Great honor," to honor means to value. We fall short of God's value. Sin devalues us who were originally created in the image of God. So since "all have sinned" all have been devalued, they take on the value of sin. "The worker deserves his wages." The worker's value determines his wages. The value of sin is so low that its payment (wage) is nothing but death.
The only way to regain value is to be separated from sin. God makes us righteous in our spirit which also makes us righteous in the eyes of the law (the power of sin is the law). He makes us one spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17) & even goes so far as to hide our life in Himself (Colossians 3:3-4). So we are completely separated from sin as Christ is (Hebrews 7:26) thus death has no sting because the sting of death is sin & our sins have been eradicated. So in spirit we never sin and we never die because He has given us the overabundant value of His Son. The value of His Son is so high that His payment (wage) is life. "The wages of the righteous is life" (Proverbs 10:16).
Redeem means to "restore honor, value, & worth." But He not only regains our value by separating us from sin but in His love He gives us the maximum value of Jesus! So redemption is just the beginning because in Him we are also justified (made righteous) & glorified (Romans 8:30). No matter how much we had fallen short of His glory He much more raises us up to His glory!
"All have sinned and are worthy of death because of it. All fall short of the value of God, He is worthy of life. However God freely makes us righteous & lets everybody know it. Through Christ Jesus He freed us from the death penalty for our sins. He gives us His value because of His love for us."
I take God "declaring us righteous" to mean that He not only convinces us of our righteousness (John 16:8-10) but that He shows His kids off to the angels & our family in heaven.
Glory can be defined as "Great honor," to honor means to value. We fall short of God's value. Sin devalues us who were originally created in the image of God. So since "all have sinned" all have been devalued, they take on the value of sin. "The worker deserves his wages." The worker's value determines his wages. The value of sin is so low that its payment (wage) is nothing but death.
The only way to regain value is to be separated from sin. God makes us righteous in our spirit which also makes us righteous in the eyes of the law (the power of sin is the law). He makes us one spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17) & even goes so far as to hide our life in Himself (Colossians 3:3-4). So we are completely separated from sin as Christ is (Hebrews 7:26) thus death has no sting because the sting of death is sin & our sins have been eradicated. So in spirit we never sin and we never die because He has given us the overabundant value of His Son. The value of His Son is so high that His payment (wage) is life. "The wages of the righteous is life" (Proverbs 10:16).
Redeem means to "restore honor, value, & worth." But He not only regains our value by separating us from sin but in His love He gives us the maximum value of Jesus! So redemption is just the beginning because in Him we are also justified (made righteous) & glorified (Romans 8:30). No matter how much we had fallen short of His glory He much more raises us up to His glory!
"All have sinned and are worthy of death because of it. All fall short of the value of God, He is worthy of life. However God freely makes us righteous & lets everybody know it. Through Christ Jesus He freed us from the death penalty for our sins. He gives us His value because of His love for us."
I take God "declaring us righteous" to mean that He not only convinces us of our righteousness (John 16:8-10) but that He shows His kids off to the angels & our family in heaven.
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