Hebrews 2; Genesis 46:28-34; Genesis 47; Psalm 37

“But one testified in a certain place, saying: ‘What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands.’” (Hebrews 2:6-7 NKJV)

Sometimes people can be the worst. They’re rude to each other. They lie, cheat, and steal. They do something wrong that costs the company a lot of money, and they blame you. And your boss believes them instead of you. Let’s face it, the more we get to know people, the harder they are to love. When we read the passage that the author of Hebrews quoted from Psalm 8, we have a hard time believing the man is just a little lower than the angels. But God, not only created us, all mankind, as a little lower than the angels, He crowned us with glory and honor. He made us stewards of all of His creation. He sent Jesus to die on sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins. Because He thought we were worth spending His love and grace on. Yes, that includes the driver that cut you off in traffic. Yes, that includes that customer that cussed you out. Yes, that includes your boss who keeps adding things to your work load that aren’t really your job. We’ve stopped viewing people as valuable creations of God in and of themselves and started defining them by their value to society. We’ve played God in trying to decide when life begins and ends, seeing those who are pre-born and those who are aged as inconvenient instead of unique creations of God with worth and value in and of themselves.

How can you re-learn how to see people as God sees them? Are you willing to look at that person who’s screaming at you until they’re red in the face and recognize that they too have been crowned with glory and honor? What about the condemned man sitting on death row? What about the person from another ethnicity who always seems to find ways to bug you? What about the unwed mother? And her baby? If we loved the people God loved and only hated the ones that God hated, we’d be showing love to everyone – let’s try that.

Lord, some people… Well, You know. It’s eye-opening to realize that to those people, I am “some people.” Help me to love the some people in my love just as You love them. Help me to see others as You see them – as being a little lower than the angels and worthy of Your love.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.