Have you ever noticed how differently we sometimes think about life depending on the circumstances? Not long ago, I was thinking about the tremendous protection our country gives to the bald eagle. We value these magnificent birds, and rightly so. We don’t just protect the adult eagle; we protect its eggs. Why? Because we understand what is developing inside that egg. We know its value before it ever breaks through the shell.
That thought stopped me in my tracks. If we can understand the importance of protecting life before an eagle hatches, shouldn’t that cause us to think deeply about how God views human life before a child is born? This subject can quickly become political, but I don’t want to start with politics. I want to start with God.
David wrote, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13 NLT
Think about those words: You made me. You knit me together. David didn’t describe himself in the womb as something insignificant waiting to someday become valuable. He saw God’s hand already at work!
And then David continued, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book.” Psalm 139:16 NLT Before David had accomplished anything, God saw him. Before anyone knew his talents, personality, strengths, or weaknesses, God knew him. His value wasn’t based on what he would someday accomplish. His value began with the God who created him. And the same is true of you!
Our world has a way of assigning value according to achievement, appearance, intelligence, wealth, popularity, or usefulness. God doesn’t measure your worth that way. You mattered to Him before you could accomplish a single thing. That truth should affect not only how we view life in the womb, but how we view the people around us.
The elderly person whose strength is fading still has tremendous value. The person living with a disability has tremendous value. The child who hasn’t accomplished anything yet has tremendous value. The person society overlooks has tremendous value. Why? Because human worth isn’t something we earn. God is the One who gives life its value. And that includes you.
Maybe you’ve made mistakes. Maybe there are things in your past you desperately wish you could change. Maybe you’ve experienced circumstances surrounding pregnancy or abortion that still carry painful memories. God’s desire isn’t for you to live buried beneath shame. His mercy and forgiveness are greater than our failures, and His love can bring healing into places we thought would hurt forever. But He also wants us to understand something precious about every human life.
When we look into the womb, God wants us to see more than biology taking place. He wants us to recognize His handiwork. So here’s something practical to carry with you today: Treat people according to the value God has placed upon them—not according to the value the world assigns to them. That includes the unborn, the elderly, the struggling, the forgotten—and the person looking back at you in the mirror.
The unborn should be protected because they’ve been created by God with great value. And no matter what your life has been to this date, understand that your life was born with value, and God wants to add ever-increasing value to it! Let Him lead you in adding value to your life!
Psalm 139:16 NLT “You saw me before I was born.”
A Prayer for Today: Father, thank You for creating me and for knowing me even before I was born. Help me to see every human life through Your eyes and to treat others with the dignity and value You have given them. Where there is hurt or regret in my past, help me receive Your mercy, forgiveness, and healing. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
