John Calvin, one of the Protestant Reformers, wrote: The great part of [men] are most unworthy if they be judged by their own merit. But here Scripture helps in the best way when it teaches that we are not to consider that men merit of themselves but to look upon the image of God in all men, to which we owe all honor and love. . . . You will say, “He has deserved something far different of me.” Yet what has the Lord deserved? . . . Remember not to consider men’s evil intention but . . . look upon the image of God in them, which . . . with its beauty and dignity allures us to love and embrace
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