I want to speak to you about what gives human beings value — what gives us worth. We must take people seriously as beings of immeasurable value. Human worth isn’t something we earn — it’s something we are given.
I am profoundly proud to be a human being. Our species is astonishing. The Psalmist expressed this so beautifully in Psalm 8:
> “When I consider the heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars… what is man that You are mindful of him?”
Psalm 8:3–4
And yet God answers that question Himself:
> “You have made him a little lower than the angels And crowned him with glory and honor.”
Psalm 8:5
We are not accidents drifting through a meaningless universe.
We are crowned. Honored. Entrusted with responsibility. Something to be a person — something magnificent.
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What makes humanity remarkable?
One way to appreciate our greatness is to compare ourselves with the great apes — incredible creatures with whom we share more than 95% of our DNA. Yet the 5% we do not share has made a world of difference.
Apes use the laws of nature.
We understand the laws of nature — and then we shape creation with them.
We make jet engines that pierce the sky.
Satellites that speak across continents.
Rockets that carry us to the moon.
Voices that travel invisibly through the air.
Apes communicate — they have dozens of meaningful sounds.
But you and I? We command languages with 60,000 words and counting — words that express grief, worship, hope, love, poetry … mathematics and music.
Apes learn by imitation.
We teach.
We pass on knowledge thousands of years old — building upon the discoveries of those who came before us. Learning for us is intentional, communal, generational.
We plan.
We imagine.
We build museums to preserve the beauty we create.
We build universities to discover the beauty we do not yet know.
We bury our dead with dignity — because love outlasts life.
What a fantastic thing it is to be human.
Don’t take yourself for granted.
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But here is the crucial question:
> Where does our value truly come from?
Is it intelligence? Creativity? Productivity?
These are wonderful gifts — but they are not the source.
This week I sat in a mall and a caretaker brought a group of children — eight of them — each with profound mental and physical challenges. They held onto one another's shoulders like a little human train as they shuffled toward the food court.
One girl, in a wheelchair — arms flailing, eyes rolling — made tiny grunting sounds. Ketchup smeared across her chin as she tried to enjoy her burger.
She will never write a novel.
She will never operate a smartphone.
She may never speak a single word.
But she is priceless.
Jesus said:
> “Whatever you do for the least of these … you do it unto Me.”
Matthew 25:40
Why? Because their value has nothing to do with contribution.
Nothing to do with achievement.
Nothing to do with ability.
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Our value comes from God Himself
From the very beginning:
> “And God said, ‘Let Us make humankind in Our image.’”
Genesis 1:26–27
Male and female — imaging God.
Strength and tenderness — imaging God.
Mind and soul — imaging God.
Every chromosome — kissed with His dignity.
God did not merely assemble us — He breathed into us.
God kissed us into life.
We are more than matter.
We are more than biology.
There is a spark of the Divine within each of us.
So we respect ourselves.
We respect one another.
We respect the brilliant scientist and the child in the mall — with equal reverence.
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But what about the broken?
What about the violent? The deranged? The condemned?
Even there — that divine image is bent, but not erased.
When we incarcerate a criminal, we still feed them.
We still give them a book.
We still allow them to speak before death.
Why do we bother?
Because even the most shattered life holds a remaining glimmer of God’s design.
Humanity is like a chandelier that has fallen from the ceiling and shattered into a thousand pieces — yet even the broken glass still catches the sun.
There is beauty in every fragment.
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There is one more breathtaking reason we must treat every human life as sacred:
God invested Himself in the human project
When God stepped into flesh, He made a declaration:
> Humanity is worth My life.
Jesus stood tall with our bones.
He thought with our brain.
He carried our DNA.
He walked in our skin.
He showed us that God and humanity are not incompatible — they were always meant to dwell together.
And when Jesus went to the cross, He paid the highest possible price for the least impressive among us. A Savior does not die for creatures of small value.
The cross is God’s way of saying:
> “You may not believe in yourself —
but I believe in you.”
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Michelangelo’s slaves & the completed David
Michelangelo once carved a series of partial figures — “slaves” — emerging from raw stone. Human forms straining outward, still caught in the marble. One arm here. A head there. Half-born into freedom.
The sculptor was making a statement:
> Even the enslaved and unfinished human is a masterpiece in progress.
Then you reach the end of the hallway…
and there he stands — David.
Seventeen feet of white marble perfection.
What gives that statue its value?
• The intrinsic beauty carved into it
• The touch of the Master who made it
Friends — so it is with every human soul.
Some of us look like the unfinished forms —
struggling, emerging, still trapped in our stone.
But just down the hallway is God’s vision of you:
restored, completed, glorious.
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A Chandelier of Grace
Even when sin shattered us, God refused to sweep us away.
We are the fallen chandelier —
broken pieces scattered across the floor —
yet still catching the light.
Even the fragments shine.
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So what does this mean for your life?
It means:
Don’t discount yourself.
Don’t underestimate your neighbor.
Don’t overlook a single human being.
If you ever wonder what you are worth —
Look at the cross.
Look at the empty tomb.
Look at the God who breathed His own Spirit into you.
You are something to behold.
A miracle of God’s imagination.
A living image of divine love.
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Joy + Worship Moment
I want us to experience this truth together.
First — the joyful reminder:
Turn to someone beside you and with a smile say:
“You look marvelous.”
Now — the holy truth:
Turn again and speak this blessing:
“In God’s image — you are priceless.”
Let those words land.
Believe them.
Receive them.
Because they are true.
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Gospel Appeal
Jesus died for you.
Jesus redeemed you.
Jesus is restoring His masterpiece in you.
And one day — the Sculptor will finish what He began.
Until then…
Walk tall.
Honor every soul.
Shine the light that is still in you.
It is a wonderful thing to be a human being.
Thanks be to God.
