Divine Image

One of Christian Aid's core values is Dignity. This core value has a foundation in the belief that all people are created in God’s image and have inherent value and worth.

In the passage above 'for a little while lower than the angels' can also be translated as 'only a little lower than the angels'. The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews is quoting Psalm 8 here to express the divine nature within the lives of human beings. We have been made only a little lower than the angels and crowned ‘with glory and honour'.

The glorious implications of this include that we have immense power and potential to effect change within our world. Each and every one of us has infinite value and worth, and when we fail to recognise this within each other, and in ourselves, we fall short of what God has made us to be. In working together for justice and dignity for all, we are celebrating our own dignity and worth as well.

Along with each and every person, you and I have been made 'only a little lower than the angels’ – let’s celebrate this today, and work to make it a visible reality!

Walk tall! Today, let’s hold our heads up high and seek to live out our godly, angelic nature, so that others might see it and know it in themselves too.

Loving God, thank you for your divine image within me. Thank you for making me ‘only a little lower than the angels.’ Help me to remember that this is who I am, and to recognise it in each of my brothers and sisters, too – your people, held in your love.

Amen.

Adapted from a contribution by the Rev Dr Jennie Hurd, Chair of the Cymru Synod of the Methodist Church in Wales at the time of writing.