We as humans have a way of taking a straight forward concept and muddying the water until no one can understand.
The idea of the individual is born in the very inception of the world. God makes man and woman in his image. We are bearers of his likeness. So what does this mean?
This is where the waters get muddy. Many people politicize this issue. One group uses this idea to champion extreme individual rights. Others in seeing the rights of the group as a way of seeing God in others. Individualism vs collectivism. Once we’ve politicized an issue it becomes tribal and deep fissures ensue.
I argue that it goes deeper than politics. It’s fundamental to our understanding of how we manage and shape our own behaviours and actions. This is an intensely personal understanding that we need to digest and accept within our quietest moments.
When I see my neighbour I need to see God’s image bearer, not an atheist, or an African, or a political enemy. Their beliefs and behaviours have to take a back seat. I need to see God in them. I need to treat them in a way that acknowledges the spark of the divine within them. But I am no more responsible for their beliefs and behaviours than they are mine. When I one day meet my maker, I stand alone as do they.
In my marriage I am as concerned for my husband’s eternal soul as I am his earthly happiness. As a result, I do everything in my power to encourage him to follow a path that is Godly. He does the same for me. While I encourage him, I am not responsible for his actions. He is accountable for himself. This alleviates the burden of having to not only direct my own thoughts and behaviours, but of bearing the weight of controlling him. I am free from this. But I can love him and accept his love in return.
There is great freedom in learning to leave the guidance of the minds and hearts of others to God. All I can do is stumble along, doing my best to see his guidance in my own life. I no more want to tell you how to live than I want to be held responsible for your mistakes.
I will however encourage you to look for God. Try find him when you are looking in the mirror.
Genesis 1: 27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Roberta Writes 