Am I really important to God?

Genesis 1:26-27Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Romans 8:15-17So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

1 John 3:1-2See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.

We are tempted to measure our values on the basis of performance or other external measurements. But our worth is rooted in the fact that we are created in God’s image and loved as God’s children. These truths should affect not only how we view ourselves, but also how we view the people close to us.

Psalm 8:3-8When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority—the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.

God made us in his image and likeness, the first sign of the value he places on us. No other creature on earth is made in the image of God. The second sign of the value God places on us is that he placed people over all creatures on earth as caretakers and managers. We have a special responsibility within the created order.

Psalm 139:13-16You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

Jeremiah 1:5“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

God made us with great skill; he crafted us with loving care. He revealed how much value he places on us by the way he made us, no matter what we might think or feel about ourselves.

Psalm 139:17How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!

The Almighty God thinks wonderful thoughts about us all the time. He looks inside of us and sees our real value.

Psalm 139:1-3, 6O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. . . . Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

Matthew 10:29-31“What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.”

God values us so much that he watches over us no matter where we are or what we are doing. This truly is wonderful, too wonderful to believe. But it tells us how special he thinks we are. God cares about everything we do because he loves us so much.

Romans 12:1So, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

God values us so much that he indwells all who believe in him. The body of any believer is the Lord’s temple, so we must honor him with our bodies.

Galatians 3:26You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 4:7Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

God values us so much that he thinks of us as his children.

Matthew 28:20“Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

God and the risen Jesus promise to be with us always. If he didn’t value us, why would he choose to be with us?