A few years ago, a woman in Oklahoma wanted a dog. When she found the dog she wanted, the dog’s owner wanted $200 for the dog. She could not afford the $200 and so exchanged her baby for the dog. She said, “The $200 dog is worth more to me than my baby.” She felt the trade was worthwhile.
Consider what Palestinian suicide bombers think is worthwhile. They think their cause is worth more than their lives.
We make value judgments every day. We make trade offs. We give up one thing in order to get something else, and the choices we make indicate what we value and think is worthwhile.
Four, Really Big, Critical Questions
Each of us faces four questions. They are critical, because they deal with the basic issues of life. The first question is: “What’s Really Worthwhile?” I’ll deal with the others in following weeks.
What you consider worthwhile is determined by your values. Your values are the convictions that control your thoughts and actions. Values indicate what you think is most important.
Everyone has an unwritten set of values that define his life. You may understand your values; you may not. Your values may be wise or unwise. The most important thing about you is your set of personal values. What you value makes a big statement about what’s important to you. For example, some people buy a new car every two years, because a new car is important to them.
Could you write a list of the things you value? A teenage boy values his car. Older people value their health. Many would put family on their list.
What we say we value and what we really value, may not be the same. For example, if a man says he values his family, but never spends time with them, never demonstrates his love to them and doesn’t provide for them, does he really value his family?
If you want to know what you value, look at the way you spend your time and money. That’s what shows what you really consider worthwhile. What you say you value, only tells what you would like to value or think you should value. It’s what you do with your time and money that tells what you really value.
Many things shape our values.
i. Age. A child may consider an inexpensive toy valuable. A 14-year-old boy may value a pair of $200 Air Jordan shoes. A 17-year-old girl may value a smile from the captain of the varsity team. A 29-year-old man may consider owning his first house worthwhile. A 55-year-old probably values a growing pension plan.
ii. Media. Advertisers, movies, TV game shows and talk shows all influence our values.
iii. Family. Often, our values reflect the values of our parents.
iv. Schools. Teachers constantly shape the values of children by their lifestyle and attitudes. Some schools even have a program of Values Education.
Values determine behavior.
Your values determine what you think is worthwhile and the decisions you make. When I was in high school, French was my worst subject. I really struggled. But I valued passing and getting into college. During my senior year, I studied especially hard so I’d pass. In fact, I gave up many activities that I enjoyed, in order to do extra study. I considered getting into college worth more than sports and hanging with my friends.
Values determine where you go, how you spend your money and how you spend your time. Now if values determine your behavior, you’d better have the right values. If you have good values you’ll make good decisions and if you have bad values you’ll make bad decisions. Your values determine how you interact with people. If you value justice and fairness, it will show up in the way you treat people. Values determine how you do business. If you value honesty and integrity, it will show up in your business dealings. If you value good health, that will determine what you eat and how you exercise. Don’t tell me you value your health, if you don’t watch your diet and never exercise.
So I ask, based on the way you’ve been living, what’s really worthwhile to you?
What’s worthwhile for you?
Something is worthwhile when it is valued enough to spend time and effort to attain it. The question is: what should we value? This is one of the most critical questions in our confused world. Where should we put our energy, our passion and our attention?
At times, it’s difficult to know what’s worthwhile. If you ask a 3-year-old girl whether she would prefer a doll or a check for $1 million, the child would probably choose a doll rather than a check. From our adult perspective we have a better sense of values and we know that with that check we could buy thousands of dolls.
But are adults really any different? Men and women sell their convictions for success or career advancement. They think they know what’s really worthwhile but after they climb to the top of the success ladder, they learn the ladder is leaning against the wrong building. It’s no different than a 3-year-old choosing a doll.
Too often, our perspective of what’s worthwhile is flawed. We value the short term rather than the long term; we look at what’s enjoyable now, rather than what’s helpful in the future.
How do we choose what’s worthwhile?
1. LEARN JESUS’ VALUE SYSTEM
God does not leave us alone to try to figure out what’s worthwhile. God knows what is a waste of time and what’s worthwhile. He sees what’s valuable, what’s meaningless and he’s written a set of values for us in his book, the Bible. If we buy into his value system, we’ll make good choices, live happier lives and experience true joy, not only in this life, but in the next. When we value what God values, our lives are worthwhile.
Jesus demonstrated many excellent values.
i. People are worthwhile.
Our world has turned things upside down. We should love people and use things, but instead, we love things and use people.
I find it interesting that many people who favor abortion, the killing of people, get fanatical about saving whales, seals and spotted owls. They value the spotted owl more than human life and they consider a baby seal worth more than a human baby. But Jesus taught that human life is infinitely more important than animal life.
And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:30-31). Jesus said people are worth more than birds.
If you value people, you’ll discover what’s worthwhile. Investing your life in people is worthwhile. Building relationships is worthwhile. Helping people is worthwhile. Treating people with respect and kindness is worthwhile.
ii. Good character is worthwhile.
Good character seems to be a fading value. Integrity and honesty have taken a beating. Character has been lacking in people we’ve trusted in church, in business and in government officials. Many have traded their integrity for quick financial gain. Now they are learning that what they got in exchange for their integrity isn’t worth it. They traded their good names for something that wasn’t worthwhile.
Solomon said, A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. (Proverbs 22:1). Paul wrote, For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:8).
Integrity is worth more than making money. Character is worth something. You can’t put a price tag on reputation and character.
iii. Heaven is worthwhile.
We are not an eternity-minded society; we’re into the “here and now” and convinced “today” is all that matters. We don’t think much farther than next weekend, but not everything worthwhile shows up in this life. One person said, “I think when you die, it’s like your candle going out. Phew!” People who talk like that, don’t know what’s worthwhile.
Solomon said, He has also set eternity in the hearts of men. (Ecclesiastes 3:11). God has put an awareness of eternity in each of us. If you’re honest, you’ll admit that you believe in eternity. The grave doesn’t end it all. There’s a heaven to gain and a hell to shun. Heaven is worthwhile. Paul wrote, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18).
When you put a value on heaven, it changes your perspective on everything else. It changes the way you live now. You begin to lay up treasure in heaven, not just on earth.
2. INTERNALIZE JESUS’ VALUES
i. Make faith in Christ a priority.
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. (Matthew 13:4).
This man found a treasure that was worth more than everything else so he gave up everything he had in order to obtain this treasure. Jesus Christ is the world’s greatest treasure. Trusting him is worth more than everything else combined.
ii. Make Jesus Christ Master of your life.
Our world has twisted things around. We’ve taken God off his throne and put humankind on the throne. This is the essence of humanism.
Put Jesus Christ at the center of your life. Get off the throne and put Jesus on the throne. Make him Lord and Master. Follow him. Obey him. Serve him. Love him. Worship him.
iii. Make spiritual formation a life-long goal.
When you sign up to be a follower of Jesus Christ, you begin a long-range program of Jesus Christ working in every area of your life. It’s a process of Christ changing you from the inside out. It’s God’s program of making your character Christ-like.
My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, (Galatians 4:19).
3. LIVE BY YOUR NEW VALUES
It’s not easy to build your life on worthwhile values. The world wants to squeeze you into its mold. The world wants you to compromise your values. The world looks to short-term gain rather than long-term benefits. The world values possessions rather than people. The world values instant gratification and pleasure rather than purity and integrity.
It’s not enough to know about good values. It is not enough to know what Jesus valued. We have to incorporate them into our lifestyle. It is not enough to talk the talk. We need to walk the walk. Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven… Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man … (Matthew 7:21, 24).
It takes discipline. It requires us to participate with the Holy Spirit as he produces Christ’s character in us. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:8).
Choosing to follow Jesus Christ is the most worthwhile thing you can do. Moses knew this long ago. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. (Hebrews 11:26).
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