The Wykehamist
Incidentally, it’ s one of the reasons why bullying, in all its forms, is so dreadful, as it does so much damage to another person who is precious and valuable.
If I take you back to the passage—‘ God saw all that he had made … and it was very good’— nothing else in the created world is made in the image of God; God chose human beings to share Creation with Him. This helps to explain later passages in the Bible which tell us that‘ God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son’. God loves those that he has made in his own image.
All those other reasons we gave earlier about why we matter are true … to an extent. But sadly, they can’ t endure or always help us manage through the difficulties of life.
You matter, I believe, because God made you in his image and He delights in you. Even when you feel broken, unsure, or disappointed in yourself, the image of God in you is not erased. You are made in God’ s image on your worst day, as well as on your best.
This does not mean you are perfect! The Second Master can tell you that … If we bear God’ s image, then our lives are not random or meaningless. We are called to reflect God into the world.
That might look like being kind, rather than cruel; standing up for someone who is vulnerable; acting with integrity, especially
when no one is watching; choosing to forgive someone, when it costs us something. Every time we do this, we mirror something of God’ s character.
And so, as I come towards the end of my time here, I want to leave you with this. When you walk out of this chapel this morning, when you leave Winchester one day, when life becomes harder or lonelier or more uncertain than it might be right now, please remember this truth: you matter, because you bear the image of God. That is something no opinion, and no circumstance can ever take away from you.
And because that is true of you, it is also true of the person sitting next to you. Take a look at them. And the person behind you.
But it’ s also true of that person who you find really difficult. They matter! Don’ t look at them right now.
Winchester has shaped my family for nearly four decades. As I leave, I do so with enormous gratitude— and I leave with hope. Hope that you will go from this place knowing that you are deeply valued, deeply loved, so much so that Jesus laid down his life for you on the cross.
‘ God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.’
Amen. 30 th January 2026
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