I am made in the image of God.

It’s my primary identity. The truth that is now my home.

I haven’t always thought of myself that way. I was much more prone to identity statements like ‘I am a worthless sinner saved by God.’ But there was danger in that identity. When I viewed myself as worthless it was easy to view others the same. When I viewed myself as worthless it was hard to reconcile how God could possibly want me.

But adopting the lens of ‘made in the image of God’ transformed my perception of self, others and God in a way that has been subtly, extraordinarily life-changing.

I believe that when the Bible says we were ‘made in God’s image’ it implies much more than a physical likeness. I believe it implies a likeness in our characters, our desires, our worth. Yes, the reflection of these things is somewhat distorted by sin, but as a broken mirror or stirred up pond still reflects something of the face gazing into it, so still do we reflect God.

And with that understanding I found myself led to this eye-widening, goosebump-giving thought:

As God is worthy to be loved so too are we.

That is, the love that God is worthy of as Creator-Redeemer is the same love of which He says we are worthy.

Worthy. It is a word worth marinating in. A word to let soak into your soul. Worthy is how God sees you. And it is how He sees the person in the house across the fence, or behind you in line at the supermarket, or walking past you on the street.

Worthy.