The Heart of the Matter

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day designed to honor the achievements of Martin Luther King Jr. in his fight for the rights and dignity of African Americans in our country.  Unfortunately, for many people this day has turned into a glorification of the man and his cause instead of honoring what he did and glorifying God for the worth He has ascribed to all humans.

You see, Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t invent his ideas.  God is the one who decided from the beginning of his creation of the world that all people have equal value and worth.  This is based on the fact that all people have been created in the image of God himself (Genesis 1:27).  To be made in the image of God means that all humans reflect God’s nature and possess God’s character.  This is what makes all people worthy of honor and respect, regardless of the color of their skin or other differences.

The entrance of sin into the world corrupted God’s creation and the way he designed things.  Ever since the original sin in the garden of Eden, humans have judged each other by human standards – deciding what characteristics are desirable and which ones are not.  Every generation and every people group chooses different criteria to determine what makes others worthy of respect, but this has never been God’s way.  God doesn’t look at the outward appearance of people, but rather at their hearts (1 Samuel 16:7).  Every person has value in God’s eyes because he looks beyond the surface things that we can see.

On this holiday, I’m thankful for the heart of Martin Luther King Jr. and his achievements in helping our country to see others the way God sees us.  But mostly I’m thankful for the God who created us in his image and gave us value and dignity and worth.  And I want to be someone who joins with God in looking at the hearts of those around me instead of their outward appearances.