When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. Genesis 5:1
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Eph. 2:10
Maybe it’s because I grew up in a loving and safe home with parents who told me every day that they loved me. Maybe it’s because I am a romantic at heart. Maybe God just has a way of revealing himself to us in mysterious ways, but I have never questioned God’s love for me. I’ve always known him as a God that is fierce in his love for me, who died for me, and who desires to commune with me.
Sometimes when I read those words that the Lord speaks over his creation- telling us we are created in his image, and are beautiful, redeemed, and loved by God-I am overwhelmed with adoration for the Lord. Even though I grew up hearing it, as I have deepened my relationship with the Lord, I have come to understand even more.
When I became a teacher and developed relationships with my students, I realized one of my callings as a teacher was to share that truth with them. I felt a deep burden to tell them that they are loved, they are beautiful, smart, and worth knowing. Some of them knew this already, but others, I am confident had never been told those things before.
Then, when the Lord opened my eyes to human trafficking, my heart was broken at the thought of girls who were living in a brothel, women who were raising their families in a brick kiln, boys working 12-hour back breaking days and had never heard God whisper those truths to them. God sees each of them, and not only does he see them, he loves them. He thinks they are beautiful, valuable, smart, and created in his image.
This is one of the reasons I started Purchased. My heart aches to tell each and every one of them that they are beautifully created in the image of the God of the universe. They hold value, and are loved by the greatest Lover of all. And, my friends, if you did not know it already, so are you.
