Earlier this year, I spent a lot of time mulling over the phrase “image of God”. Most references of this phrase are negative in nature, yet revealing of man’s strong desires for the “image of God”. We consistently see the nations and the people of Israel trying to create and build their own images of God, which the LORD abhors and forbids.

Yet, there are two “images of God” that the Bible Generic Zoloft speaks of positively (not forbidding).

One is Jesus Christ, who is referred to as the image of God in Corinthians and Colossians. The other, which really had me thinking a lot, is man. The obvious references are in order Deltasone Genesis when the creation account describes that man is made “in the image of God”. Genesis 9 says the shedding of blood requires the murderer’s blood be shed because man was made “in the image of God”. Men are told in the New Testament not to cover their heads because they are made “in the image of God”.

So, here’s the rub for me. There are “images of God” which are forbidden, namely the ones crafted by our purchase Prozac hands which we seek for pleasure and joy. I think we all get that even though it’s an everyday battle to turn from them. But, there are “images of God” which He Himself has given to us which are good and deserve honor, love, and respect. Again, I think we understand the “honor Jesus” part of this (even thought we may struggle to live it out at times).

But, where I feel like our eyes have really been covered as a culture is the “image of God” found in our fellow men. People are amazing, created in the “image of God” and yet so much around us says:

– they are inconvenient…
– they cause problems…
– they create stress and conflict…

…and so we try to avoid the very “image of God” which is calling out for our honor, love, and respect.

There’s two particular areas that I have in mind; children and unbelievers. The world, and even the church, looks at children and starts adding up the positives and negatives of having a child and the question “Would you invite or turn away “the image of God”? never figures into the equation.

For me specifically, our last six months in Canada were a season where I felt God wanted me to invest in the lives of unbelievers and rather than being consumed with their course language, judging their foolishness, or weighing whether it is worth the investment, to instead be overwhelmed with the fact that I have the privilege to interact with these “images of God”. I sensed that he wanted me to marvel at the souls in those bodies and yearn for them to know truth.

It’s nothing radical, I know……I really want to love my neighbor more…..I want to give my fellow man, whether they are elderly or infant, believer or unbeliever, the kind of honor they deserve because they are made in the image of God. I really want to marvel more at the fact that God’s image is upon man.