See the Imago Dei in others

What might happen if we treated others the way we wished to be treated, especially those who don't treat us well?

Imagine the Potential of Human Goodness

In Charles Dickens' The Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge repulses everyone with his cold demeanor except his undeterred nephew, Fred. Every year, he invites Scrooge to Christmas dinner. Every year, Scrooge gruffly declines. Yet, his nephew is bold enough to think his kindness could rub off on the old man.

Fred explains to his sister, "I mean to give him the same chance every year, whether he likes it or not, for I pity him. . . . If he finds me going there, in good temper, year after year, and saying Uncle Scrooge, how are you? If it only puts him in the vein to leave his poor clerk fifty pounds, that’s something."

Fred sees something in Scrooge: potential. He believes somewhere, deep down in Scrooge's cranky, glacial disposition, there's room for good. This potential for good is embedded in every human. It comes from what we call the Imago Dei.

Understand the Imago Dei

The Imago Dei is Latin for the “image of God.” Essentially, every person is created by God to bear His image. It's God's character imprinted on each of us. If God is good and loving, we have the potential for the same.

Imagine creating something, like a painting or a pot. Not only would it have our imprint, but the potential to be used as we intended. Yet with all the good intentions and design, our creation would be imperfect and may even become marred. Like with a stained painting or a shattered pot, the potential may go unfulfilled.

So it is with us humans, flawed vessels of the Imago Dei. Goodness isn’t so apparent, but tends to dwell in our hidden potential.

How does the hidden potential for goodness affect how we see ourselves?

See Yourself as an Image Bearer

Some of us can relate to the idea that we bear God's image, because we know we've done good before. Sadly, some of us can only see the marred creation we've become.

What matters is remembering how God sees us. We're all His beautiful creation made to live as He intended. Just as He made the trees to grow and bloom and the birds to fly and sing, God made you and me to experience His goodness and care for His creation.

By God's grace, you'll see the Imago Dei in yourself. That's where healthy self-love begins, as well as the realization that everyone else you know is an image bearer.

See Others as Image Bearers

While we can't make others good, we can do our small part to love them. We can see that they're image bearers with potential. Like us, they're people that God can change.

Consider this: Is it possible to have a mustard seed of faith that God can bring out the best in someone you struggle with?

Transform Your Relationships

After years of patient love, Fred experienced the best of his Uncle Scrooge. Scrooge had spent the night with three Christmas ghosts and was a new man by the morning. While the story is fictional, it grips us because we want to believe that such a transformation is possible. We can picture how Fred must've felt to see love change his uncle.

Of course, not everyone in our lives is as ornery as Scrooge. But in a way, all of us are stained canvases and shattered pots. Yet we still bear the Imago Dei.

If we can see the Imago Dei in each other and believe God's love can bring out the best in us, it may change the way we love people. It may transform our relationships and our world for the better.

Give thanks, for He is good

Psalm 136:1 - "Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good. His love endures forever.

It's the week of giving thanks, and this verse gives us the important who and why of gratitude.

What's the object of our gratitude? Who do we express it to? I know I'm thankful for many things, like my family, my job, and my health. Yet I have very little to do with the life circumstances that enabled me to have those gifts. God is to thank, and when I thank God, I acknowledge the true source of all good things.

That brings us to why we thank God. Acknowledging that God is good may be harder than when we were children. Many of us have been through life, which means we've seen evidence that God may not be good. Yet to say God is still good––even through pain, suffering, evil, and death––we're admitting that ultimately good will win, and that's only possible if there's a God to win it.

Last, we give thanks to God because his love endures forever. Many of us wonder how God could love certain people. People who spew hate, inflict pain, and wage war. Many of us wonder how God could keep loving someone like us, someone who's screwed it up time and time again. But if God's love endures forever, it means even the worst of us has a chance to be redeemed. It means there's absolutely, positively nothing we can do to keep His love from enduring.

That's something to be thankful for. The magic happens when we express it to Him, and form the connection we so desperately need and He so desperately wants.

The purpose of presence: Why you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be

Have you ever wondered why you exist at this moment in time? Are you curious about why you grew up in a certain family, in a particular country, and at this point in human history? If you've thought about those questions, you've probably thought about your purpose.

What's tough about knowing our purpose is that it takes faith. Purpose requires a conviction that we're doing what we should be doing with our lives, though that's not clearly spelled out. And while we may spend a lot of time discerning our purpose and pursuing it, we may be missing a simpler way to look at it. What if our purpose was more than our great calling in life? What if our purpose was rooted in the moments we have with people?

Here are three reasons why our purpose is to be present with people.

1. The people around you aren't random.

We can believe life is a disordered, meaningless set of circumstances. Or we can believe there's a reason why certain people show up in our lives.

Imagine one day you get a headache. You find that you're out of aspirin and need to hit up the convenience store. You arrive, grab your aspirin, and head to the counter. The person checking you out is a tall, bearded guy named Oscar.

If you think Oscar is random, like he's simply part of the convenience store like the Cheetos and cigarettes, you may treat Oscar like he's an end to the means of getting the medicine. If so, nothing special will happen in your interaction. You'll be one of many who'll put their crap on the counter, swipe a card, and say, "See ya."

But if you think Oscar isn't there by chance, and is purposefully placed to be in the store that day, then you may consider what role you play in Oscar's day, assuming you are also purposefully placed there. Somehow, your headache spurred a series of actions that led you to this present connection.

And beyond your need for aspirin and Oscar's need for a paycheck, each of you has other, less obvious needs. While you're not likely to find those needs out in this simple transaction, you may have an impact on them without noticing.

2. Our actions always leave a mark.

Just as people aren't random and meaningless, neither are the results from how we treat them. A smile, an encouraging word, or even a joke can change an attitude and uplift someone's spirit.

It would be easy to lean into other purposes at that moment. In the convenience store scenario with Oscar, the purpose may be to get back to work as fast as possible to fulfill one's career aspirations. Another could be accomplishing the goal of getting the aspirin, with Oscar simply fulfilling his duty of taking payment.

But what if that minute with Oscar was a chance to be present with a new person? What if you held the belief that you could say or do something in that moment to address a need? What if you were the person who made Oscar's day?

3. Loving others is at the heart of purpose.

Careers matter, and so does medicine for headaches. But there is nothing more important in front of us than other people.

Have you heard the one about the lawyer and the rabbi? A lawyer, who knew and kept every one of the 613 Jewish commandments, came to Rabbi Jesus and asked which one was the most important. Jesus replied, "Love God and love your neighbor."

When we boil purpose down to its essence, it's about why and how we live. In this simple reply to the lawyer, Jesus teaches it's all about God and others.

The purpose of presence

When we realize our moments with others are the most important moments and trump other purposes, we will find ourselves living out purpose all the time. This can be with our family, friends, neighbors, enemies, and even the convenience store clerk.

So go find some people. They just may help you find your purpose.