What do people value the most? Most people would say family, faith, friends, pets and even possessions. Of course what matters the most to us varies considerably from person to person between age groups.
Several months ago, our daughter, Kaitlyn, called us and said she had just been in an accident. One of the first questions we asked her was "are you ok?" Fortunately, it was just a fender bender and she was fine. Obviously, what valued the most to Beverly and I was not the car...because it's just a bucket of bolts and some metal. What mattered the most was our daughters health and safety...she's more valuable than any bucket of bolts.
Our values give birth to our motivations.
Our motivations are revealed by our actions.
What did Jesus value the most?
- Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moths and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
Whatever you value the most is what you will follow after or try to achieve. If family means the most to you...you'll focus the most on your family. If work means the most to you...you'll focus most on your work. If entertainment means the most to you...you'll focus the most on entertainment. etc.
What we value most determines the decisions we make.
- What you treasure will determine where you heart will be.
- Where your heart is will determine the decisions you make in life.
- If we value the wrong things, we will often make wrong decisions.
Have you ever made a dumb decision based on emotions?
- Perhaps you went in debt for something you should have saved up for.
- Perhaps you rushed into a relationship without knowing a person well enough.
- Perhaps you let other people's influence cause you to agree to the wrong thing.
- Perhaps you purchased something that was trendy rather than timeless.
How often do we let our treasure determine our decisions and choices in life? Almost always.
As a Christian, my values line up with what Jesus values. Of course, I had a set of values before I met Christ...but all that changed when I was given a new nature.
What does Jesus value?
- Matthew 25:35-36 "For I was an hungered and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me."
Obviously what Jesus said mattered the most to Him was...
- Feeding the hungry.
- Giving water to the thirsty.
- Providing shelter to strangers.
- Clothing the naked.
- Visiting the sick.
- Visiting those in prison.
Look at Luke 4:18-19 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord."
- Preaching the Gospel to the poor.
- Healing broken hearts.
- Preaching deliverance.
- Restoring eyesight to the blind.
- Liberating them that are bruised.
- Preaching about the Lord's return.
This is what JESUS VALUES. This is what He did. This is what the Church must do. If we're not doing these things...then perhaps we do not value what Jesus values.
