Love Is Dignity
Dignity is God’s love breathed into us.
In the beginning, God said, “Let us create human beings in our image.” And so it was, humans were created in the image of God. At the end of the day God looked at all that was made and saw that it was very good. The story is among the first lessons learned in Sunday School. Jesus Loves Me is among the first songs sung. We learn in Romans that nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
I have received glimpses of dignity throughout my life. Like the words from the Psalmist: “You are fearfully and wonderfully made.” Or being stirred to write poems with scenes like this: “When the sun kissed the horizon, she danced with the breeze to the carol of creation.” Or being led to purchase a calligraphy print in China, the words declaring “A heart like music and a mind strong and brave.” I have also been gifted with loving, supportive relationships and fulfilling ministry.
We hear the Gospel, and we are love. We believe all these things to be true. Yet, I wonder, when do we come to know and experience our worth? Our dignity? When have we been able to live enfleshed and embodied in the dignity that God breathed into us the first moment of our being?
Despite God’s never-ending efforts to instill dignity deep within our beings, we may not be able to experience this gift because the world sends deadly messages of shame. Shame—the voice and feeling that tells us that we are worthless and unlovable, or whatever is most destructive to our sense of dignity. Shame seems to cancel out all the sense of worth that we receive from God and others. This was my battle for most of my life.
I was either fully embodied by shame or it walked alongside me like a silent reminder that I wasn’t quite enough. That is, until the day I was nudged to learn the opposite of the word “shame.” In my Google search, I learned that dignity is the opposite of shame. Something shattered inside of me. The tether that held me to shame was severed. My soul felt my worth.
Just like we sing on Christmas Eve:
“O Holy night! The stars are brightly shining; it is the night of our dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
’Til He appeared, and the soul felt its worth,”
my soul knew its worth. Thanks be to God! My soul knows its worth. May you know your worth. Dignity is God’s love poured in us.
Rise up.
Rise up. The breath of God is in you.
Beauty,
Grace,
Dignity
Is yours.
Your inheritance.
Birthright from me.
Who formed you,
Cell by cell,
Atom by atom.
My breath,
Nephesh,
Formed you and is enfleshed in you.
Rise up. Rise up.
Scripture
Proverbs 31:25 — “You are clothed with strength and dignity.”
Psalm 139:13–18
Sing
Will You Come and Follow Me — ELW 798 (repeat verse 4)
Reflect
What does it mean that we often hear the Word proclaimed, we learn the Gospel yet don’t experience it? How could this shape our ministry to one another and the world?
How does God’s gift of dignity shape our relationships with those we disagree with? Or those we might name the Other?
Prayer
Creator God, you have declared that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. You have woven in us qualities that make us unique. You walk with us and whisper words to instill in us courage, faith, and hope. The world often speaks through the voice of shame, and we lose our sense of dignity. Break through all that separates us from your vision for us so that we might live in you and you in us.
