A clearer understanding of the character of God and the knowledge that I am made in his image and for relationship with him has helped me to gain a better appreciation of my value before God. That understanding has grown recently as I read and thought about Selwyn Hughes’ book, ‘Christ Empowered Living’. In the book he outlines the theological basis to his understanding of being made in the image of God and makes the following observation:

““When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created he called them ‘man’”. (Genesis 5:1) Because we are made in God’s image, it follows that we will never understand ourselves, or how we are designed to function as human beings, until we know something of the Creator who made us. Think of it: we are not made in the image of angels or other celestial beings. We are made in the image of God himself.”

Selwyn Hughes goes on to describe four characteristics of God which are reflected in man:

1.) God is a personal being who relates.
2.) God is a rational being who thinks.
3.) God is an emotional being who feels.
4.) God is a volitional being who chooses.

When God created man he made him in his own likeness; he put something of his own character into man, in the way that he relates, thinks, feels and chooses. The likeness is similar to the shadow of a man reflected against a wall which indicates some truth about the man. Similarly, when God created man he saw something of himself reflected in man, not a physical reflection but, just as God relates, thinks, feels and chooses, so does man.

He goes on to describe the quality of relationship that God intended and that existed before the Fall and that it is only through the saving grace of Jesus Christ that we can live and relate – to God and to others – in the way that God intended.

I found that thinking in detail about how and why God created me has had a profound effect on how I feel about myself. To really grasp that I am created in the image of God and for relationships, primarily with God and extending from that for human relationships, puts a very different perspective on my value. My value is not in any way dependent on what I can or cannot do, I have value simply because God created me in his likeness and, although the image of God in me is damaged by sin, it is restored through Jesus Christ.

In order to have a healthy sense of our own value we need to have that communicated to us by the people in our lives. Ideally that should start in childhood and our value should be communicated to us by our parents. It should be an ongoing process whereby we are given value through our relationships and in particular within the church family. However, some relationships can be destructive and can undermine our sense of value. It can be a combination of things that are said to us, or even the tone of voice used or the way things are said, and the way we are treated. Someone’s attitude towards us that demonstrates a lack of care and consideration, being taken for granted and not listened to can all contribute to damaging our sense of value, especially if it wasn’t firmly established in childhood. Our value is rooted in God and never changes, but whether we are able to understand and accept that is largely dependent on the way we are treated by other people.

When I first contacted Halesworth Community Church I had a very low sense of my own value which had led to numerous problems. That has gradually been reversed as a result of my contact with the church and, in particular, with the pastor and his wife. I have been given time, understanding and consideration. The knowledge that people actually care enough to listen to me and understand my point of view and want the best for me – and correct me when necessary - has given me a sense of value that I had never experienced before. The small acts of consideration, which were quite alien to me at first and hard to accept, have had a big impact upon me. I now know that I have value, I know that my value is in God, it’s not dependent upon people, but that value has been communicated to me in a powerful and life-changing way by his people.

Having a good, solid sense of our own value helps us to keep our footing secure, to be strong when faced with life’s difficulties and to reach God’s potential for our lives. A good picture which illustrates that is of a windsurfer sailing across the sea. When the windsurfer has his footing secure on the board and the sail pointing in the right direction into the wind he can move with great speed and freedom across the sea, an incredibly exhilarating feeling! However, once he loses his footing and falls from the board, he can spend much time floundering about in the sea trying to get back onto the board and, worse still, having to swim to shore with it!

When we are secure in our sense of value before God we can stand strong and experience that exhilarating feeling of freedom and of fulfilling God’s potential for our lives. The winds will still blow and we may wobble at times when we face difficulties in life but if we are secure we will be able to stand strong and firm. Without that security of knowing our value before God we will flounder, we could miss God’s best for our lives and fail to experience the joy and freedom of serving him.

Our value is based on who we are in God and that must be the source of our security, our self-worth and our significance if we are to make our lives work.

“Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God remould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.” (Romans 12:2, J.B. Phillips translation)

There are various cognitive restructuring approaches available, for example Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, which seek to address changed thinking in an attempt to solve some of the problems that people face in life. However, unless we address the issue of complete dependency upon God as the source of our security, self-worth and significance first, they could simply lead to increased self-dependency and a deepening of the problems that we were seeking to address.

Unless God is at the centre of the process we will not be able to address the deeper issues that are the root causes of the problems we face. The only way changed thinking can make any effective and lasting difference is by the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit changing our thinking and replacing our dependency upon ourselves for our self-worth with dependency upon God and a realisation of our value in his eyes. Our value is not based on what we can do but on who we are in God and that is the only place we will truly find our security, self-worth and significance.