What Do You Value Most? Do You Know?
They say if you want to know what a person values most . . . look at their calendar and their checkbook/credit card statement.
What do you value most?
I’m not talking values like patience, honesty, and compassion, today. We’ll leave that for another time. I’m talking about the places we invest ourselves.
Most of us live with an abundance of things from which to choose. Purchases. Time. Pursuits. Relationships. Where you and I spend our time and money will always expose what we consider most valuable.
Here is a partial list of some things we can choose:
- Appearance – Being considered attractive by others.
- Freedom – Power to make personal choices without control or restraint.
- Happiness – Feelings of pleasure, enjoyment, contentment, and joy.
- Inclusion – Belonging . . . accepted, and valued by a group.
- Knowledge – Having an advanced amount of information and education.
- Prestige – Achieving a high level of fame and personal importance.
- Relationships – Close connection to family and friends.
- Security – Stable environment free of danger.
- Success – Accomplishment of goals in your chosen field.
- Wealth – Great quantity of money, possessions, or property.
- Youthfulness – Maintaining a young appearance and level of activity.
Let me ask again . . . What do you value most?
The goal of Counting My Blessings is to focus on those places where faith intersects with life. With that in mind, you may have noticed that there were a few specific things missing from the list above.
- A Relationship with God Through Jesus.
- Faith.
- Prayer.
- Loving God.
- Loving Others.
Paul said in Philippians 3:
Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with Him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! v. 8–11
It’s hard isn’t it?
We live in the here and now, yet we’re to have faith that gives us an eternal perspective. Faith that realizes that most of what we consider valuable is temporary. Faith that points us to what Jesus called the Pearl of Great Value:
“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. Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it! Matthew 5:44–46
The Kingdom of Heaven! Life eternal in God’s presence and those who love Him. Loving Him. Loving them. That is what Jesus described as most valuable, and Paul said it is His relationship with God through faith in Jesus that is most valuable.
So once again . . . What do you value most?
I’m asking myself. I know what my heart wants to value most. I even know what my head knows I should value most. The thing I’m wondering is . . . if I showed you my calendar and my credit card statement would you be able to tell what my head and my heart believe?
Loving God. Loving Others. My calendar. My purchases. Hmmm. I have a lot to think about.
You too?
This is good, Deb. It’s only now, at 52, that I am really finding that what I value most — I mean, more than anything including my relationships with my husband and kids — is my relationship with the Lord and learning to be obedient to Him. But it has taken this long and a LOT of heartache to get here. I count all the heartache as blessings, though, because they did get me to this place.
For me too Shelby. I learned so many things the hard way. I’m just thankful the Lord never gave up on me. He has patiently taught me that His grace really is sufficient, and knowing that has made my relationship with Him my greatest treasure. God bless you!
Praying my life reflects the value I place on a relationship with Jesus above all else. Thanks, Deb, for setting our priorities straight today!
Blessings!
My prayer as well Martha!
Great post. It is a secondly challenge to stay focused on what you really value most! Great reminder. Thanks. Found you from the MeetUp Monday link up!
So glad you stopped by Natasha. Thanks for your kind encouragement.
This is SO very true! I LOVE taking clients through a deep values assessment! It changes and clarifies so much. It amazes me how many never go through this evaluation.
Bethany, I bet a deep values assessment is very revealing for your clients. For a few years my husband had us write down every penny we spent. He said that if we knew where we were spending, we would know where we could cut back if we needed to adjust our budget. I didn’t like it, but of course he was right. It helped us set our priorities. I want to plan my life based on God’s priorities for me. Thanks for stopping by and adding your thoughts. Blessings!
Heather, I love that quote. We are so blessed. I want to share my earthly blessings and store up the things that are eternal. It’s so easy to get that confused . . . hoarding things that can never last. Blessings to you!
Beth – To know Him – Lord, Savior, friend. That’s my hope and prayer . . . now I’m checking my calendar and my purchase history to make sure they reflect my heart and mind. Blessings!
I agree Ellen. I want to value my relationship with the Lord over everything else, but it’s so easy to get caught up in the daily and lose my focus. I definitely needed this reminder today.
It is hard always to be 100% true to my values. And so God, in His wisdom, gives me opportunity after opportunity to choose. And I am grateful for His forgiveness when I stray and must be led by His rod and staff back to the path of righteousness.
What a wise question you pose, Deb! I’ve found in my life that I justify what I value based on the fact people are good or whatever else it is isn’t actually bad for me. But none of it matters if Jesus isn’t first. He’s the foundation and giver of all good things. I needed this reminder. So glad you linked up at #ThreeWordWednesday.