God created man in His own image; . . . male and female He created them. - Genesis 1:27
In the late
1920s, D. J. DePree, the president of the Herman Miller furniture company, and his
colleague James Eppinger saw the company sliding toward bankruptcy. Often traveling
together by train, they had much time to ponder their situation.
One day they decided not to focus on what was wrong with their company but with the
furniture industry as a whole. They listed 15 things, one of which was the belief that if
you worked with your hands, you were common; if you worked with your mind, you were
uncommon, or superior.
Although DePree was an evangelical Christian and Eppinger a devout Jew, they came to the
same conclusion: All people were created in God's image, and therefore everyone is
special. Today Herman Miller Inc. is respected in the corporate world for its outstanding
labor/management relations.
How differently we would look at people if we really saw them as bearing the image of
their Creator! Racial, ethnic, social, and other barriers would begin to fall.
Lord, forgive us for so often seeing ourselves as superior to others. Help us to remember
that before sin distorted our thinking about ourselves and others, we were all, and still
are, unique people created in Your image.
-DJD
Of all creation's treasures rare,
Not one compares in worth with man;
In God's own image he was made
To fill a place in His great plan.
-D.
De Haan
Our value is not measured in what we make of ourselves, but by the One who made us