Being devalued

When you are wronged you are being devalued i.e. you're being treated as unimportant - insignificant, worthless; as if you don't matter.

Why is this wrong? Because you do matter; you have value and significance.

Why are ¹we valuable and significant? 

Because God is the most valuable and most significant of all, and He made us like himself - in His image. Therefore, we have intrinsic value. 

Our intrinsic value is not based on something you or I do but who we are, who God created us to be i.e. like Himself - in His image.

Why did God make us this way?

So we can participate in who He is - as the most significant and valuable being of all - in order to partake of and enjoy the eternal bliss (happiness) within the community of Father and Son in, by, and through the Spirit.

And when we do, we reflect His value and significance back to Him and out to others like nothing else in creation i.e. only we are created in His image. The only other being described in this way is the Son of God. 

To treat someone (who is like God) with honor and dignity - which is rightfully theirs as God's image-bearer - honors God and them for who they truly are, i.e. as significant and valuable. God being the most high, most valuable and significant of all, and humanity being like him. 

Our most basic value has to do with who we are, who we were created to be by the infinitely valuable/supreme God, not in what we do. We can only do, because of who we are 1st. 

And we can do as we were designed to only if and when empowered by God's Love-Spirit. 

Our value may be expressed and displayed by what we do but is not the grounds of it. God and who he made us to be, is the basis of our value.

When we see this we understand why loving God with all we are and have and our neighbor as ourselves is the 1st and 2nd greatest commandment and why the 2nd follows the 1st.

Everything about who we are and what we do must start with God, and return back to Him - for from him, through him, and to him are all things. To him be all glory (honor) forever! Amen!

In summary, there are 4 reasons we are valuable and significant!

1. God is a being of infinite value and significance; we are like Him. This is who we are and has nothing to do with our actions i.e. what we ¹do.

2. Because we are like God we can partake of and enjoy His value and significance in a way no other being - other than himself - can. 

3. And we can bring glory (honor) and joy to God by enjoying, trusting, and living as He designed i.e. in union and faithful pursuit and enjoyment of Him and His directions...

4. Thereby reflecting God's value and significance to others i.e. loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. 

Because this is true of all men and women before they come to Christ - i.e. this is how God "hard wired" us - they can reflect Him in a significant way once they are restored to a right relationship with Him and indwelt and empowered by his Love/Spirit.

They can bear good fruit thereby reflecting and honoring God - their infinitely valuable Creator - like nothing else in Creation can, since nothing else is created like God; in His image. 

We alone are like God - in his image. To not be treated accordingly is a huge violation/ offense against us - who we are - and against our Creator who made us this way.

For further discussions on our value click 

Created for glory 

Worthless, rotten sinners? 

Does God value us? 

_________________________________

¹though it does explain how and why we live for His honor and glory.