This document discusses why Christians should value all people. It notes that as image-bearers of God, all people have inherent worth. The document examines passages from Acts 16, Psalm 139, Genesis 1, and Matthew that illustrate how viewing oneself with proper awe of God, rather than self-exaltation, leads one to value others. It argues that when one sees their own smallness before a great God, they are better able to live alongside and care for others without exploitation. The remedy for self-exaltation is developing awe of God by focusing on who He is and how He formed each person, as depicted in Psalm 139.

1. Value All
Acts 16:16-19; Psalm 139:13-16
Christ values every person, so we should not
exploit or disregard others.

2. www.slideshare.net/LazarouRichard

3. How do you treat
others…
• in conflict?
• when “your way” is at stake?
• when you are busy?
• when your comfort is at stake?
• when you’ve been wronged?

4. Why should we value
others?

5. Image-Bearers
Genesis 1:27-28a
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be
fruitful and multiply…
Matthew 28:19-20
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you
always, to the end of the age.”

6. Acts 16:16-19 Psalm 139:13-16
• self-exaltation
• awe of self
• misplaced hope
• personal gain is
main objective
• exploitation of others
• valuing others is risk
• assault on the image
of God
• God-exaltation
• awe of God
• rightly placed hope
• my smallness is in view
and God’s greatness is
in view
• valuing of others
• valuing others is gain
• follows example of Christ

7. Acts 16:16
As we were going to the place of prayer, we were
met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination
and brought her owners much gain by fortune-
telling.

8. Acts 16:17-18
She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men
are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim
to you the way of salvation.” And this she kept
doing for many days. Paul, having become
greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I
command you in the name of Jesus Christ to
come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

9. Acts 16:19
But when her owners saw that their hope of gain
was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and
dragged them into the marketplace before the
rulers.

10. Back to the beginning…
Genesis 3:6
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for
food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the
tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its
fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband
who was with her, and he ate.
Sin is essential failure to trust in God. It is an
act or state of unbelief, and an assertion of
autonomy.

11. Where are you in danger
of self-exaltation these
days?

12. The Remedy…
AWE
…being in the presence of something
vast that transcends our
understanding of the world…

13. For me, the swim is a reminder of
the vastness of the ocean and all it
contains. We spend a lot of time in
life trying to make ourselves feel
bigger: to project ourselves, occupy
space, command attention, demand
respect. So much so that we seem
to have forgotten how comforting it
can be to feel small - and the awe
that comes from being silenced by
something greater than ourselves,
unfathomable, unconquerable and
mysterious. This is what it is to
swim in the sea. We become small.
And when we shrink in significance,
we become better at living alongside
and caring for others.

14. Psalm 139
• written by David
• subject of the Psalm is God!
• contrasts the greatness of God with
my smallness

15. AWE OF GOD
RIGHT VIEW OF GOD
RIGHT VIEW OF SELF
VALUING OTHERS

16. Psalm 139:13
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

17. Psalm 139:14
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully
made. Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.

18. Psalm 139:15
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

19. Psalm 139:16
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

20. Awe of self exploits others
Awe of God values others

21. What does it look like to
“value all”?
preferential love
sharing Christ
viewing others as God views them
…has to start with a right view of
God…

22. Where is your view of God
derived from these days?

23. How does your view of
God influence your view
of others?