How much value you place on your belongings may be determined by the way you treat them. (Others will be able to tell, in spite of what you may say.)
Do you protect them? Keep them in good repair? Limit their exposure to harmful elements? Coddle them?
How would you feel if you lost them? Do you have them insured? How much of a reward would you offer to recover them? How would you react if someone else spoke poorly of them?
I realize your answers will vary widely depending on what the particular possession is in each case. But how do you value an individual? A person made in the image of God? How do you manifest that value?
The Shepherd demonstrated the value he placed on us by laying down his life. In what ways might we lay down our lives for our fellow members of the household of God? How far would you go to uphold the dignity of a fellow human being? How productive would they need to be to earn your statement of value? (Ah – trick question! The value we have in the Father’s eyes is not earned, it is gifted. Do we treat others they way he would?)
These are not meant to be academic questions, nor self-righteous accusations. These are foundational issues in the way we care (or don’t) for the harvest workers that the Father has sent out. They are part of the paradigm that determines our protocols and our policies, our strategies and our