Common yet Clean

When I take the time to stop and perceive all that I really am, I am mystified. For far too long, I have looked at myself, one piece at a time. I have disassembled and deconstructed myself. I have made myself less than human, pulling sinew away from bone and tendon away from muscle. In some spiritual autopsy, some emotional lobotomy, I have reduced myself to my basest elements and forgotten that I am still the sum of all my parts. 

But, I am more than that. 

When I consider the worth that God places on me, I am tempted to think it is based on my accomplishments or my traits. As if God loves me for the quirks in my personality. Truth be told, the value God finds in us is both intrinsic and bestowed. It has this dual nature by the basis of its origin. 

“In the beginning, God...” 

At the very origin of man, God created us in His image and breathed into us His holy breath. Meaning, at the moment of our creation, we had value in the model of our craftsmanship and the spirit of our breath. Every human has a soul—the gift of God that gives these mortal bodies value. 

But, God’s breath and image are not the only things that give me value. I have also, the anointing of God. 
This is not to say that those without salvation (the unsaved) are of less value. What I say is, salvation entails God the spirit coming to dwell with the spirit of man. The very presence of God must signify a significant change in value. 

The truth is, if I had been able to throw myself away before salvation, I cannot do so now. Now, I am a new creature, anointed by God. I have a calling; I have an election sure; I have sweet communion that I could never have held before. 

I am many things, many dangerous and vicious things. Yet, I am endowed by a Holy God. I am hidden in such a beautiful Lord. I am a king, set up and dwelling within the consecrated presence of the Almighty Jehovah, anointed by His desire and grateful beyond imagination. 

What I once was is eclipsed by Him. I am nothing of value, but what He chooses to invest within me. He is by nature unchangeable, and thus my value from His hand is equally as unwavering. I am the sum of many parts, but they do not define me. My God is the source from which I draw my crowning glory. 

What God has called clean, let no man call unclean. 

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