Why Does Every Human Life Have Value?

When people ask me why I’m pro-life, my immediate response is “because each human life is precious and valuable - from conception to the grave!” But the deeper question that must be addressed by each of us is this: Why does every human life have value?

​Is our value based on how much money we make? How many people we influence? What gender we are? What country we come from? What gifts and talents we have? Our physical and intellectual abilities? Without a moral standard upon which to base our system of values, we will yield to whatever the majority of a society defines as right and wrong. But is that a safe standard to rely on?

The Aztecs practiced human sacrifice. Egyptians participated in bestiality. The Greeks approved of pedophilia. When morality is defined by a culture or society, debauchery is imminent. Our moral convictions must be based on something outside of ourselves. Otherwise, what one person would consider "morally wrong" might be assumed "morally right" by another. In which case, morality becomes an opinion rather than an absolute.

As a Christian, my absolute value system is based on God’s Word, the Bible. It’s the “Divine Rudder” that guides me as I sail through this adventure called life. This world we live in is His, and therefore, He has the authority to call the moral shots (so to speak) and I have the responsibility to adhere to them – even when they’re contrary to popular opinion.

​So what does the Bible say about the value of human life? For the answer to that, we must go back to the dawn of creation. Genesis 1:17 says, “God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” Wow. Think about that for a moment. Humans are created “in the image of God.” Does that mean we are on the same level as God? No. Absolutely not. Just as a wonderfully painted portrait lacks the heart and soul of its original subject, so we as humans lack many of the attributes of our perfect and holy God.

When sin entered the world (Genesis 3), our image was marred and our close relationship with God was damaged, seemingly beyond repair. But thankfully, our story doesn’t end there. Not by a long shot. God’s love for mankind - His image bearers - was not to be deterred. The God of the universe placed an inestimable (albeit undeserved) value on us as His creation and He was determined to restore us to a right standing with Him. How would He do that? John 3:16 summarizes it very well: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Why was this necessary? Well, we know from Romans 3:23 that “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We also learn from Romans 6:23 that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The story of mankind (our story) truly is the greatest love story ever told.

​For anyone who doubts your value or the value of any person, remind them of this fact: Our Creator made us in His image and loved us enough to send His Son to die on our behalf, paying a debt that we could never pay…the debt our sin demanded…death. If God deems each and every person as worthy of His love and sacrifice, so should we. World-renowned evangelist Billy Graham put it this way: “God proved His love on the cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, ‘I love you.’”

Our value isn’t dependent on size. It’s not dependent on our viability. It’s not dependent on society’s value system. Our value is solely dependent on the value God places on us. And that value is priceless.

So why am I passionately pro-life? Because God values life in all of its various stages. Science confirms that life begins at conception and ends at the permanent cessation of all vital functions. Therefore, as long as a life is in existence, it has inherent value from our Creator and is worthy of all of our efforts to protect and sustain it.

May we all join together for the cause of one of God’s most precious gifts: the gift of life.

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