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.

The law, grace, and God's will

We cannot see or receive the full demands of the law until we grasp the fullness of God's ¹grace. Without a clear grasp of grace, the ²law crushes us when we fully grasp what it asks of us.

On the other hand, in order to have a clear understanding of God's direction and will, we must have a clear understanding of the law i.e. God's moral standards and direction-will. The law spells out, in no uncertain terms, the conduct God desires (wills) and designs for us. That conduct and design are God's expressed, revealed, or written will - vs his secret, vocational or providential will. 

Nevertheless we cannot properly benefit from the law or receive its direction the right way until we have a clear grasp of grace. 

Both the law and grace are vital in our relationship with God and must both be held in their proper place and order. 

Grace is the oil (lubricant) and ³fuel of our relationship with God and the law is the track (directions) we run on (not as a requirement to be accepted by God but as the means by which we reach our maximum speed - potential - and how we honor Him most). 

Loving God with everything we have and our neighbor as our self - i.e. the 1st and 2nd greatest commands - are the ultimate standard and our highest design.

We tend to focus on one side or the other i.e. legalism (law/obedience) or antinomianism (grace/faith). We are inclined to do so due to our lack of trust in God. 

But when properly understood, law and grace (as God intends it) are not in conflict. They go hand in hand. True trust (faith) filled, love-driven obedience is neither of these.

Walking with God by grace is truly freeing. Once we fully grasp God's infinite grace, we will never be the same. There is no longer any condemnation or rejection for our distrust, failure, or disobedience. Only God's complete embrace and perfect acceptance are ours in and through Christ. 

But that doesn't mean walking with God is mushy or wishy-washy. It is solid and has teeth. Because God's law clearly lays out the best way to operate - i.e. according to His design - to not live according to His clear direction (love God and neighbor) is to our harm, lose, or eventual destruction and that of others. It has real consequences, just like running a jet on gas instead of jet fuel has consequences. It's not a question of judgment but of operating as God designed us to.

Living contrary to His design-will-law matters, similar to using equipment according to the owner's manual matters. If the equipment doesn't operate as it was designed, it does not run properly and eventually breaks down -  not to mention never reaching its maximum efficiency and potential. Not operating according to the manual (the "law" on how the equipment works best) always results in negative consequences i.e. equipment failure.

If we are to know and walk with God well, we must know and walk with him exactly as he prescribes. The law isn't a list of  requirements we must complete to be acceptable and accepted by God but neither is it mere recommendations. To operate optimally, we must operate according to His direction, which is also the way He designed us to operate. Walking with God is grounded in truth/reality. There are no ambiguities within God or his direction. Any ambiguities lie only within us and our lack of understanding of God; his directions, design, and purpose.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1‭-‬4 ESV  

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Matthew 5:17 ESV

For a discussion on legalism click here

For a discussion on walking in the spirit and not under the law click here

______________________________________________________________

¹Grace consists of God fully receiving us in all our brokenness and having his eyes set upon us in perfect love and care even when we stray...no, actually, especially when stray.

This is only because Christ fully satisfied the demands of God's law on our behalf and credited us with His perfect obedience as if it was our own. He now sees us in the same way He views Christ, with perfect affection and delight. In Christ, God now sees and receives us as perfect, without flaw. He could not set his love upon us otherwise.

²By law, I mean God's moral standard - not ceremonial rituals that were done away with by Christ fulfilling them. 

God's moral standard is summed up in the greatest commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and the 2nd which is like it... loving our neighbor as ourselves. This is what we are called to live out, not in order to be received by God but in response to His relentless love, we desire to honor God for who he is - loving, merciful, patient, gracious, and kind etc. - and our fellow image bearers for who they are i.e. like God, worthy of our love.

³To be precise love is the fuel that drives our obedience but this is love granted to us only in and through grace. 

acceptance vs pleasing

What is the difference between being accepted (received by) someone and pleasing them i.e. bringing them joy?

God fully accepts us

We are told God fully accepts us when we are in Christ. Nothing we do, say, or go through will make this more or less so than it already is. In the eyes of God, we are perfect and fully loved as if we are perfect (even though we are not).

We can please Him 

However, as our loving Father (parent), he is always delighted when we faithfully pursue Him and His directions (commands). This doesn't mean he loves us more for doing so, it means we experience and participate in His love more fully which brings Him greater joy.  He delights in our delight in Him. 

This isn't hard to understand when we consider our kids. Because they are our kids, who we love dearly, we always want what's best for them no matter what. When they go down a path we know is ¹not good for them, our love is expressed even more by the ache it causes us and by the actions we take to help prevent their harm - even if it causes them some pain (loss) now to avoid a greater pain (loss) later. We love our kids no matter what and simply do not want our kids to be harmed ¹if at all possible. 

And when they return and acknowledge they have been on the wrong path, are we not delighted? Yes, but why? 

Just as the father of the prodigal son was delighted to see his son return - so much so that he ran to him when he saw him a far way off (why do you think he spotted him so far away? He was scanning the horizon hoping and looking for his return). His love for his son was steadfast and never waned even in his sons rebellion and wandering. In this way, our heavenly Father pursues and delights in us when we return to Him in order to pursue and honor him. He knows our honoring him is in our best interest and for his greatest glory.

If this is the kind of love we have for our kids - imperfect as we and our love are - how much more so is this the kind of love our perfect heavenly Father has for us?

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.

9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Matthew 7:7-11

For a discussion on whether God's love is conditional or unconditional click here  

For a discussion on being under grace not law click here

____________________________________ 

¹we know that pain can be a good teacher, so we may allow our kids to make mistakes. We simply make ourselves available to comfort and embrace them when they return and seek it and us.  

As a child, when my dad spanked me, he would say something like "this hurts me more than it does you."  I would think to myself "sure it does dad" having no idea what he meant. Once I had my kids I understood. He was inflicting a smaller pain to prevent me from experiencing a much greater pain if I continued on the destructive course I was on.

When my kids were young we had a golden retriever named Buddy. Though he was a great dog he had zero street sense...less than zero. He had wandered into the street on several occasions and at this point had been hit at least 3 times. As a result, he was once laid up for almost a month from one incident. 

One day he had gotten off his chain and bolted for the street. I ran after him screaming "stop Buddy" and was able to grab him right before he ran into traffic. I yanked him into the yard, grabbed a small branch from the tree, and swatted his backside until he yelped. My son yelled "stop! You're hurting him, dad." To which I replied, "exactly!" Then I explained to David that causing Buddy a little pain now may prevent him from going into the street again and getting killed... far more significant harm. I asked my son which was more acceptable to him, for Buddy to get killed or to experience a little pain now that might prevent him from being killed in the future. He got it. 

God desires our highest good and knows that He alone is that highest good and we experience him most fully in our faithful pursuit of him. When we veer off that path (and run into traffic) He will either allow us to suffer the consequences so we learn to more faithfully pursue him or deliberately and directly chasten us - remember it is those who God loves that he corrects. However, when we are faithfully pursuing him, he is pleased because he knows it not only brings him his highest and rightful honor but also is for our greatest good. This has nothing to do with whether he does or doesn't accept and love us and everything to do with the fact that he already perfectly does in Christ. The fruit of knowing we are perfectly loved is faithfulness to the only one who loves us perfectly.

Why Christ must be the only way

"By the works of the law (living by God’s moral standards) no one will be justified"—that is, declared righteous, whole, and in right standing with God; accepted, approved, and fully embraced by Him, while also being in tune with ourselves, others, and the rest of creation.

When we truly grasp what Paul means here, we see that our only hope of God's acceptance and our wholeness lies in Christ—His perfect efforts done on our behalf and ¹assigned to us as a gift. There is no other way to be restored to God. Living perfectly according to God's standards (or any other moral code) simply won't work because no one can do it. Everyone falls short.
Every alternative approach—including religion, even some distorted versions of Christianity—involves trying to make ourselves acceptable to God through our own efforts: being good enough or doing enough good deeds. Paul states clearly that this is impossible. ¹No efforts, good works, or spiritual paths of any kind can cause God to receive and accept us.
Christ being the only way isn't about exclusion; it's about necessity.
Christ alone offers restoration and alignment with God as a gift received by faith through recognizing our need for it and accepting the promise of perfect righteousness freely given. There are no exceptions.
Why?
Because only Christ did what was necessary to restore us back to God. No one else—neither we ourselves nor any religious leader—has done or could ever do what He accomplished. Though wisdom can be found in various religions, none provides a complete and perfect restoration to our Creator.
Christ alone perfectly honored God by loving Him with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength, even unto death. He then raised Himself back to life as proof of the Father's approval and the Son's accomplishment and His claim to be the way, the truth, and the life. Name another person—religious founder or otherwise—who has done this. No one else ever has or ever will. He alone lived His entire life carrying out His Father's will and desires perfectly.
The good news is that He offers to assign this perfectly lived righteousness to us as a gift. We haven't earned it, lived it, or deserve it—and never could or will. For these reasons, Christ is our only solution and only hope i.e. the only way back to the Father.
Without Him doing this for us, we could never be restored to right standing with God. All of us miss the mark of loving and honoring God with all we are and have, as He rightly deserves. We all come up short, without exception. Restoring ourselves to God by being good enough is simply impossible.
To acknowledge this doesn't sit well with our rebellious independence - our desire to be our own god, deliverer, and provider. Pursuing life apart from God began with Adam and continues today; we all do it.
Those who object to Christ's claim (not simply our claim) of being the only way often fail to understand—or refuse to accept—that outside of Him, there is simply no path to God. Only Christ did what no other religious founder, philosophy,  or ethical system could ever do. 
We are mere creatures, not the Creator; we are not the source of life and love—God alone is. And He has extended His life and love to us solely in and through Christ. This is a gift, not something deserved or earned.
In essence, alternative "ways" reject justification by faith and instead assume we can justify ourselves by finding a path that forces God (or the universe, karma, or whatever) to accept us or make life flourish. They claim the path doesn't matter, only how faithfully you follow it—and if you're faithful enough, you'll eventually achieve acceptance, perhaps through reincarnation until you reach perfection or nirvana.
The problem with this approach is that it's not about how well you walk a path; it's about recognizing you never will walk any path well enough to align yourself with and honor God as He deserves. Only Christ did this, and only He has the right to bestow His achievements on us as a gift. Only Christ can justify us and align us with God - we can never do it ourselves. Through and in Christ is the only way to be restored to the Father.
This is profoundly good news, because the offer is for anyone who humbly recognizes their need and receives His offer. In that moment, they are immediately and perfectly restored to God. He has made a way (the only way) for all of us to be perfect in His eyes and fully embraced by Him.
Yet it's bad news for those who arrogantly insist they can save themselves, gaining God's approval by being good enough or following their chosen path diligently enough. To hear that no path works forces them to admit they (and their efforts) can never be sufficient—something few are willing to face.
This is the real objection to Christ being our only option. Christ's claim of being the only way is not the core issue. The issue is they refuse to admit that they can never do or be good enough to reach God or divinity etc. This is the underlying reason why people are offended by Christs claim to be only the way to God.
This cuts to the heart of our arrogance and stubborn belief that with enough time and effort, we can make ourselves acceptable to and right with God, and outweigh the bad with good, or achieve self-salvation through rituals or striving. 
Our deepest problem isn't that Christ is the only way—it's that we refuse to admit restoration must be done for us, not by us. God must do it because we cannot. We resist being told we aren't the captains of our own spiritual fate; that we aren't our own god but must depend on the true Creator and Sustainer of life, love, and all things.
We are not that person—and never will be—no matter what path we take or how fiercely we pursue it - including God's law laid out in the Bible itself.
If Christ were merely another way to God through good conduct, it might make sense to see Him as one option among many. But that's not what He claims or offers. He said He is the way to God. Or, in Paul's words: "By the works of the law no one will be justified." Christ is the only way.
For a discussion of what it means to be righteous, click here

For a further discussion on why Christ is our only way to be right with God, click here.

For a discussion on the unique claims of Christ click here

For a discussion on our alienation from God and the solution, click here. 

For a further discussion on the difference between religion and Christ, click here. 

For a discussion of the meaning of the "broad and narrow way" click here. 

_______________________________

Footnotes:

¹The honor He rightfully deserves as the Creator, Giver and Sustainer of life, love, and all things.  

²We are assuming that there is absolute right and wrong. For those who believe everything is relative, you may find the following two links helpful. 

The internal dynamics of our dilemma and God's amazing solution/offer!

The basis for morality

³When we accept Christ's free offer of restoration to God, we are acknowledging that the need for restoration exists, and we cannot restore ourselves. This is a posture of humility.

⁴Or at least if I do more good than bad things, it will be enough to offset the bad things. Christ didn't do more good things than bad; he lived for God's honor and glory perfectly. This perfection is what God's perfection calls for and requires to be aligned and right with Him. And thanks to Christ, it has been lived out and fulfilled for us by Christ and offered to us as a gift. In Christ, we are now perfectly righteous (acceptable to our Creator) if and when we receive this gift.

⁵Technically, he is aligned with us as far as his disposition towards us. He now sees and loves us perfectly because he sees us in Christ i.e. fully "clothed" in his perfection.