Imagodeo

Imagodeo, now I am guessing at the spelling of this, so if it is off, let me know! Our Pastor at church yesterday finished his series entitled "As For Me And My House". Now for the most part this was about the Lord blessing you and your family, because you bless Him. In our tithes and how we raise our families. That we would purposely fill our homes with the Holy Spirit. Now for some reason the one thing that struck me out of his message was the word, or phrase, Imagodeo. Roughly translated as Created in the Image of God. Our Pastor was referencing this in how we relate to those around us. Maybe someone has wronged you, or simply cut you off in traffic. When that person was born, they were imprinted with the image of God. It suddenly becomes a lot harder to stay angry at someone who bears the image of God.
All of us were created in Gods Image. It should define who we are as Christians. But it doesn't always. A good friend of mine, had something just terrible done to her this past weekend. Her roommate, who also attends her church, decided with the help of her accountability group to violate my friends privacy and personal space. It was such a hurtful thing to do. In this vengeance this girl was trying to create, she was blinded by what she saw as faults and hurts. She didn't look at my friend as an individual created in Gods Image. Perhaps her response would have been different had she stopped to look at her the way Jesus does.
I was very proud of my friend too, she went straight to her Pastor for help. Wanting to find out why her roommate had taken the actions she had. And with his help she reached out to this confused girl, worked out the problem, and they forgave eachother. Even in something as harsh as what had happened, I am sure her Pastor saw past the sins and into her heart. If only every hurt and problem could be solved this way. Not with retaliation, but with careful consideration and through Jesus' eyes.
We are all unique individuals. I don't think that means that we are all carbon copies, created in His image. Just as we look different and have different personalities, we are all gifted differently. So do you think that we were created with an attribute of the Father? All are His Image, but unique to us! One of my gifts is Mercy. Our God is a God of Mercy! Maybe, that is His image imprinted on me. And just as we have different Gifts, we also have a different JOB in the body of Christ. Some serve in Worship, others in service to others, like in the nursery, or teaching the youth group. If we could view the people around us like this, would we be more effective Christians? Would we be less likely to wound eachother with our words and actions?
The next time I am feeling hurt, used, or wronged by someone, I am going to try my best to view them as Imagodeo. Created in the Image of God.