Salt and Light: Values
By Brent Davis, Campus Ministry Coordinator
- What you care about—your values —is more basic than ethics. (Martin E. P. Seligman, p. 229)
- Your heart will be where your treasure is. (Matthew 6: 21, NOG)
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God[e] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. (Matthew 6: 31-33, NLT)
44 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. (Matthew 13: 44)
Why is the Kingdom of God/Heaven so valuable?
I would claim that something valuable meets some need; it is useful—even if the use is to create pleasure by being beautiful. What needs does the Kingdom of God meet? Well, every legitimate need. Legitimate needs include basic needs like food, health, and shelter; relationship needs, purpose needs; and the need to be the best version of ourselves.
Wow, that’s amazing! Sign me up! What does it cost to be part of the Kingdom of God? Well, as the verse above indicated, everything—and nothing. When you get married, you must give up any other possible intimate relationship; you will, likewise, need to let the value of the Kingdom dominate your choices above any other value. There is no cost to entering the Kingdom of Heaven, however, because Jesus has paid the cost. Before, your sins excluded you from the Kingdom. Christ’s death paid for your sins. Accepting Christ as Lord/King makes you part of His Kingdom. And, in His Kingdom, all our legitimate needs are ultimately met.
Why not immediately? Remember the need to be the best version of ourselves? We cannot be the best version of ourselves without some hardship:
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace[a] with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Romans 5: 1-5)
I hope you can see the value of the Kingdom of God, now. Repent of any sins you have committed. Put your trust in Christ’s salvation and become a citizen in His Kingdom. He will meet your needs, especially for someone to always be with you (Himself) and to be the best version of yourself by developing your character through trials and difficulties until someday we will be with Him in the New Jerusalem with everything we need. Now that’s valuable!
References
Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish. Free Press.