What does it mean when we say “treating others like they were made in the image of God”? Surely God created all humans in his image, and this distinction of humans versus all other creatures carries a level of fairness and a weight of responsibility. Fairness in the sense that everyone is imago dei. No one human is created higher in status than another. Responsibility in the sense that we are meant to be stewards of all creatures on earth, and we are meant to treat others as imago dei themselves.
When I think about how I treat others, I ask myself whether I attribute values to people around me based on intelligence, success, positions at work, ranking of schools, family, etc. Do I treat someone differently when I learn about their alma mater? Do I want to assert my dominance over coworkers who are less senior than I am? Can I respect people whom I consider less intellectual than where I perceive myself to be? Every day, as I interact with people, I can’t even count how many value judgments I make. There must be many. My life is centered around myself and how much I value compared to others. If, according to my definition of worth, I appear to be higher than another, my pride would consume me. And if I feel threatened or lower in rank than another, my imposter syndrome kicks in. Long before I knew it, I had been deeply immersed in the muddy water of arrogance and self-loathing.
Oh how much I wish I could really center my life around God, my Creator who deserves all the glory! How much I long for a life rid of the constant judgment of myself and others! How much I wish I could praise God for the sheer beauty of who He is! The Psalmists were able to find words and expressions to praise God and praise the beauty of His creation, but when it came time for me to praise Him, vocabularies left me. I could pray for supplications for my struggles, and I could pray to confess the sins I had committed against God, but I lack the ability to pray in adoration of my Heavenly Father.
Here are the words of the Psalmists in Psalm 104:
May the glory of the LORD endure forever,
may the LORD rejoice in his works,
who looks on the earth and it trembles,
who touches the mountains and they smoke!
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the LORD.
Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
and let the wicked by no more!
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
Praise the LORD!
Father, give me the heart and words to praise you, give me the endurance to live as if you are the center of the universe!