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A church theologian once created the following hypothetical case:

Suppose that during the past week a young wife gave birth to a baby. Suppose further that she held her new baby in her arms and was enjoying the pleasures of motherhood.

Then, someone comes up to her and asks, “How much do you want for the child?” Of course, she would show no interest in the offer and would be offended even at the suggestion that her precious baby might be for sale.

But the stranger is persistent and offers her $10 million, then $50 million, then, finally, a billion dollars.

But all offers are in vain because the mother would simply clutch the baby more tightly, saying, “My baby is worth more to me than the world.”

Why did that mother respond as she did? Because she looked forward to thousands of dirty diapers, many sleepless nights with a restless or sick child, the cost of raising and educating that child or because the child might bring her fame and fortune?

Of course not. Rather, it would be because she had chosen to value this tiny person beyond price. It would be because she had chosen to love this baby. It would be because she had chosen to love this baby unconditionally.

An example of human worth such as this, reflecting the image of God, must be the basis for our evaluation of our own individual selves. To this we must immediately add that such worth reflecting the image of God must be the basis for our evaluation of every human being.

It is not the case that God loves sinners more than non-sinners. The truth is that God does not play favorites, one way or the other.

A man who had no children asked a father of four, “Why do you love your children the way you do?” The father pondered the question for a while and then said, “Because they’re mine.”

Ask God, deep down in your praying heart, “Why do you love your sinful children the way you do?” And if we really listen, we will hear him say, “Because they’re mine.”

And, somehow, we’ll know that in God’s plan for the fulfillment of his Kingdom of Love that is all we need to know for now.

A biographer of Theodore Roosevelt tells of a nighttime ritual Roosevelt often carried out with his best friend, William Beebe, the famous naturalist.

The two men would go out into the night and look up at the sky, searching for a tiny patch of light near the constellation of Pegasus. When their eyes had focused on the tiny patch of light, Roosevelt would say in prayerful tones, “That is the spiral galaxy of Andromeda. It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of 100 million galaxies. It consists of 100 billion suns, each larger than our sun.”

Then Roosevelt would turn to his friend and say, “Now, I think we’re small enough. Let’s get our rest.”

If we want to experience wholeness of life and peace of soul, we must go to bed every night feeling small enough to acknowledge the supremacy of God. We must acknowledge our dependence on God for our life’s fulfillment.

And, to help us sleep in peace, we must remember and take to heart the knowledge that, small as we are, in God’s eyes, we are of infinite value.

Even better, before nodding off to sleep, we should ask God, “Why do you love me, a sinner?” And we will hear his answer, “Because you’re mine.”

Insight is sponsored by the Tanana Valley Christian Conference.

Bishop Donald Kettler heads the Diocese of Fairbanks and is pastor at Sacred Heart Cathedral.