Human life is sacred, a special gift given by God. We are described as being 'like' God.
"God created man in His own image"
We are not physically but spiritually 'like' God. He also lives 'inside' us through the Holy Spirit. We learn this in 1 Corinthians.
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you"
You can also see here our bodies are described as temples, which we must respect and care for. We should not interfere with our bodies in an abusive way such as piercing or excessive alcohol or drug use.
As well caring for the bodies we have been given, we must care for the world we have been given, which is where the idea of Stewardship is introduced.
Christian stewardship is about looking after the world for God. This refers back again to Genesis 1 as many Christians see the principle of stewardship here- God told Adam and Eve to
"Rule over the fish and the birds of the air and every other creature that moves on the ground"
This shows that even from the very beginning God gave humans the responsibility of looking after the world on His behalf. This is demonstrated again in later chapters of Genesis as the story of the human race unfolds, that with rights He has given us to live in the world, comes responsibilities.
Later, God began to give specific environmental rules such as those in Exodus 23, and Deuteronomy when God explains crop rotation.
. A number of Christians believe that God has planned our lives for us, even before conception. This is shown in the teaching in Jeremiah 1
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,"
From this, we also get the feeling that God is watching over us, to ensure our lives are following the right course and that He will be there to protect, support and guide us.
If we look to the examples of Jesus in the New Testament, we see he considered every life to be special, even those who had been excluded from society such as lepers. He believed that the initial gift of life brought equality to all.
This is highlighted in the Good Samaritan story in which Jesus helped a man out of the gutter, while other passers-by tried to ignore him and put him down.
He tried to improve the lives of those less fortunate and in three cases gave life back, to give people another chance. This was in the cases of Jiruses' daughter, a widow's son and Lazarus' story.
Christians have a strong emphasis on the beginning of life and some denominations celebrate it with a big ceremony. More emphasis is given to the importance of the beginning of life in the descriptive story of Jesus' own birth in the bible.
Christians also hold the belief that even after physical death we still have a spiritual eternal life. We return to the creator, which is all part of His plan. He gave us life and so He decides when to take it away.
