“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” (Psalm 139:13-14, NIV).

I can’t say that I’ve ever knit anything, but I can appreciate the artistry and handiwork of the person who has. Knitting requires a great deal of physical dexterity and the use of fine motor skills. It is an intentional act, one that involves persistence and care. Knitting is intimate in nature. It takes time, creativity, and unparalleled patience. This is how King David chose to describe the work of God in creating every human being.

Think about it for a moment. The God who speckled the nighttime sky with shining stars and spinning planets, created the dimpled cheeks and freckled faces of human beings. The same God who painted rainbows and sunsets, who colored the wings of butterflies, chose the pigmentation of our skin. The very God who spoke and creation was complete is the God who breathed life into our still bodies.

So, what if we really believed these words of Scripture? Would we call people ugly if we knew that they were created in God’s very image? If we truly understood that God created each person’s inner being, would we look there first to see what really matters? Would we see the value of all life if we really accepted the notion that God knit each of us together in our mother’s womb? Would there be such devaluing of human life, such hate and disdain of entire races of people, such pettiness on the part of humans? What if we truly believed that each person is fearfully and wonderfully made by a God who loves them?

We may never perfectly grasp God’s intimate work in the creation of mankind. Maybe we’ll continue to hate and dismiss, belittle and hurt one another. Still the very hands that held each of us as they formed and molded and knit us together are the same hands that stretched out on a cross to redeem us from our sin and from ourselves. We are fearfully and wonderfully made and so are all the people on Earth. Let’s live it out.