With the recent overturning of Roe v Wade the value of a life is once again being questioned.
A tale of two children
If you repeatedly tell child A that they are loved, worth your time, have a destiny, were created for a purpose, what kind of life will they have?
If you repeatedly tell child B that they aren’t loved, that your life would be better without them, that they are useless, that they are just cells, would you expect them to have a life like child A?
Both would grow up as you did with certain beliefs about themselves regardless of the truth. It’s easy to believe something when it’s repeated enough times. How did you learn the alphabet, your numbers, maybe that’s too far back for you to remember. How about the drive to your best friend’s house, or the commute to work? Do you still need to follow the map like the first time you travelled there, or do you now know the path that you travel without even thinking about it?
Our identity is no different. The old adage you are what you eat is even more applicable here. The programming whether from your family, friends, teachers, bosses, colleagues, media has shaped who you are. Chances are their programming was as broken as yours has been.
The problem with both these scenarios is once the programming is ingrained enough it’s difficult, though not impossible to change. Child A is now an adult, would it take days, weeks, months or years of being treated like child B for them to start doubting the truth and then start believing the lies. Child B is now an adult, how long would the truth need to be repeated to over ride the lies they have believed their whole life?
Understanding and Wisdom
Head knowledge is wonderful, heart knowledge is transforming. When you believe something to the point that it’s no longer just positive thinking, but a part of your DNA you may want to share this change with others. I feel honoured to be sharing my thoughts about life with you today. If they resonate with you, please share them with others.
Relationship v Religion
Following the rules is good. Following the leader is better. You can obey the 10 commandments out of obligation or because you believe its the right thing to do, or you can get to know the author of them so intimately that you understand why he created them. When you can stop limiting God’s influence in your life based on your past experience and can open your life to an unlimited relationship, you will walk free from fear. Those first few steps may feel like dance lessons but with enough practice and repetition you’ll soon be experienced enough to give your own lessons without even thinking of the steps.
Should I be writing this?
A part of me questions should I be writing this. This isn’t a how to guide. It isn’t a step by step process. It isn’t knowledge or a process to be learned. My only reasons for writing this is in the hope it with help you see the truth that you were created for a purpose. You were created by a loving God who wants to know you now, today, not just in heaven. That you weren’t created just for the years you spend here on earth. He loves you and wants to know you intimately, right now.
But..
It doesn’t matter if you didn’t have loving parents. Not knowing love in the natural doesn’t have to prevent you from experiencing Gods love for you. Don’t let logic and human understanding short change you on the relationship you can have with your creator. Yes it can be harder to relate to a heavenly father if our human one let us down, but it doesn’t have to be. I didn’t have a perfect biological father, because he didn’t have a perfect biological father, because he didn’t, you get the picture. But God is perfect and he does love you regardless of everything you have ever done or said, and he loves you regardless of everything that has ever been said or done to you.
Cost v Value
I love bargain shopping and buying things on sale. I stock up when things are half price, I know what their value is and how much I’m saving by buying when it’s on sale. Have you ever paid more for something than it was worth? Clothes, jewellery, a phone, a car, a house? We normally try and get a discount, but if you want something badly enough, especially if it’s an auction, you may be willing to pay more.
Jesus didn’t give up his life in an excruciatingly painful manner because he saw us as on sale or as damaged goods marked down. He paid with his blood because he valued your life as much as his own. Chances are your life experience has taught you that you are damaged goods, but you are worth Jesus going through all he went through. The depiction displayed in the film The Passion of the Christ as brutal as it was, may not be as gruesome as it actually was. Yet he submitted himself to experiencing that to re-establish an intimate relationship with you.
What have you done for a friend you have wronged? Said I’m sorry. What have you done for a loved one to show how sorry you are? Maybe you’ve done a chore they don’t like doing or bought them a gift. Chances are the more you have sacrificed is relative to how much you have loved the person involved.
Jesus did nothing wrong, how much love does his sacrifice display for you?
That is the value of every human life.
3 of Neville’s previous articles on the value of life:
Have you ever known a love like this?
Hugs save lives
Planned
Neville Hiatt was the 2020 Press Services International Tronson Senior Writers Award Winner for Australia. His previous posts for can be read here.
He spent a decade working for Radio Stations before his career was intermissioned by someone in a hurry to get home from work. For more of his award winning creativity visit http://nevillehiatt.com.
He also blogs for http://altcoincollege.com/covering the way cryptocurrencies and blockchain are changing our world.