Our Concept of Value as Christians is to Value Christ, the Cross & the Kingdom of God

As believers in Christ, we need to have a change in our concept of value, which can be seen in our estimation and assessment of Christ in His full salvation, we now value Christ, treasure Christ, and seek Christ, and we love what He loves, treasure what He treasures, and desire what He desires.

Oh Lord, may we have a change in our concept of value. May we love what You love and treasure what You treasure. May we be those who treasure Christ above all other things! Show us Your preciousness, Lord, and bring us into an appreciation of what You are! Amen!

This week in our morning revival we come to the books of 1 and 2 Peter, and in particular, we want to see the Vision, Experience, Enjoyment, and Expression of the Supreme Preciousness of Christ for the Genuine Church Life.

We need to go on with the Lord day by day and simply enjoy Him as the most precious and lovely One.

We may fail, we may make mistakes, we may commit sins, and we may offend others; as the Lord shines on us and we repent and confess, we simply need to go on.

We should not look back and try to be introspective about what happened, what we did do, how we could do this, etc; rather, we should just repent and go on with the Lord.

He is the most precious One. He shed His precious blood for us. He is the precious cornerstone. God gave us the equally precious faith. Christ Himself is preciousness to the believers.

The Lord is truly the most precious One, and we need to look away from anything else unto Him to enjoy Him, be infused with Him, and run the race set before us.

The more we go on with the Lord, the more we realise how fallen we are, how much we are full of mistakes and sins, and how much we need the Lord in all things.

It is easy to focus on our past, our background, or on how others are treating us.

But we need to go on with the Lord, If we mean business with the Lord, we should simply go on with Him. He forgives us and cleanses us when we come to Him to repent, and He takes us on with Himself when we open to Him.

May we come to Him again and again, forgetting about our past, stretching forward to pursue Him and gain Him, and not paying attention to right and wrong.

We want to enjoy and experience Christ! We want to gain Him! We want to see His supreme preciousness! And we want to be infused with all that He is so that He may do everything in us and for us for the building up of the church!

We need to have a Change in our Concept of Value to Treasure Christ above all Things

According to the Bible, when a person believes into the Lord Jesus, he has a full change in his concept of value; what he used to dislike, he now likes, and what he used to despise, he now treasures.

We believers in Christ should have a change in our concept of value (Matt. 23:16-26; 1 Sam. 16:7; Luke 16:15; 9:54-56; 1 Pet. 3:4; Phil. 3:7-8).

God treasures certain things, but the natural fallen man despises them.

In Matthew 23:13-36 we see an eightfold woe to the Scribes and Pharisees. We may never speak in such a way to other people, but this is how the Lord Jesus as the King-Saviour spoke to this group of people.

We need to be saved from hypocrisy and we need to have a change in our concept of value so that we may treasure Christ above all things. A hypocrite is a stage actor, an impersonator; a hypocrite is someone who pretends and who is not real.

God treasures something; He considers something as precious, but we may not treasure what He treasures.

We need to come to Him in His word to see what is valuable in God’s eyes and what He treasures so that our concept of value may be changed.

Some may consider the temple as most valuable, but others may consider the gold in the temple, the gold with which the temple was built, as being most valuable.

In God’s eyes, the temple is most valuable, for it is His dwelling place; in the eyes of the Pharisees, the gold on the temple was most valuable.

God considers the altar as being most valuable, but the Pharisees considered the gift on the altar as being more valuable. This is to have a different concept of value from the Lord.

May the Lord open our eyes and save us from being blind; may we see what is precious and valuable to God, and may we have a change in our concept of value.

The Lord considers the weightier matters of the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness – as being most valuable; the Pharisees, however, offered a tenth of all things but neglected these more precious matters.

The Pharisees were straining out the gnat, but they swallowed the camel. They were in a hurry to use the cup and the dish, and then they cleansed the outside of them, yet inwardly there was filth.

Such ones are called by the Lord as fools, blind men, and hypocrites. If we do not have a proper concept of value to treasure what God treasures, we are fools, blind men, and hypocrites. Oh Lord!

A proper concept of value for us, the believers in Christ, can be seen in our estimation and assessment of Christ in His many wonderful and precious aspects.

Once we are saved, we believers in Christ have a change in our concept of value. We now treasure the Lord and His word, and the things outside of us are not as important.

We love what God loves, treasure what God treasures, and even hate what God hates.

As we come to the Lord in His word, we have our concept of value changed, even constantly updated, so that it matches the concept of value that God has. God is particular in what He loves, treasures, and hates.

His thoughts are very different from ours. If we read the Gospels and see the Lord’s life and work, we will be surprised to see what He treasures and what He hates.

We need to learn from Him. We need to enjoy the Lord in His word. And we need to let Him change our concept of value today so that we may be precious to Him as we treasure what He treasures and hate what He hates.

Lord Jesus, thank You for saving us and regenerating us with Your life. Hallelujah, we believers in Christ are children of God, and we now love what God loves and hate what God hates! Amen, Lord, we come to You in Your word to know You, enjoy You, and learn what You treasure and what You hate. Infuse us with Your concept of value. May we be those who love what You love and treasure what You treasure. Save us from love what You hate and hate what You love. We open to You, Lord, and we allow You to shine on us through Your word. May we have a thorough change in our concept of value. May we see Your preciousness and treasure You above all things. May we estimate You as being the most precious One, and may we allow You to do everything in us in Your full salvation! Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to You today. We count all other things loss on account of knowing Christ, enjoying Christ, and experiencing Christ! Save us from being fools, hypocrites, or blind men by not having the same concept of value as You do!

Having a Proper Concept of Value to Treasure Christ as the Cornerstone, Treasure the Cross, and Seek First His Kingdom and His Righteousness

Once we believe into the Lord Jesus, our concept of value changes; we no longer cherish what we once cherished, and we no longer value what we once valued.

In Psalm 118:22 we see a change in valuation; in the eyes of the builders, they reject and consider Christ as being a useless stone, but in God’s eyes, this is a chosen and precious stone, even the head of the corner (1 Pet. 2:7).

In the eyes of the Jewish builders, Christ was something redundant, and they wanted to get rid of Him. In God’s eyes, however, this rejected stone was chosen to be the cornerstone of the newly enacted salvation.

We need to have a change in our concept of value. We need to have a proper valuation of Christ as being the supremely precious One.

What we thought before as being worthless, especially regarding Christ and God’s economy, is now precious, for Christ in us is the most precious One!

Like Paul in Philippians 3:7-8, we want to see the supreme preciousness of Christ and consider all things as dung, as refuse, on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.

We need to see a revelation of the supereminence of Christ, the supreme preciousness of Christ; then, we will know Him subjectively and personally, and we will gain Him and treasure Him.

We want to gain more of Christ and we stretch forward toward Him to enjoy Him, partake of His riches, and be counted worthy to win the prize, the fullest and utmost enjoyment and experience of Christ.

Even though others may despise Christ, to us, He is the preciousness; He is preciousness to us.

Furthermore, 1 Corinthians tells us that the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Before we were saved, we hated the cross, for it made no sense to terminate Christ or anyone else; but after we are saved, we see that the cross is the power of God.

Through regeneration we receive another life, the divine life, which has a different concept of value; when we turn to the Lord, our concept of value is changed and made the same as God’s.

God treasures the cross. The cross is the power of God unto salvation to all those who believe. So we treasure the cross.

We even seek to know Christ and experience the crucified Christ in our daily life.

Another example of having a change in our concept of value is seen in Matthew 6:32-33. Many people today seek to take care of their necessities, and they pay attention to making sure they have food, clothing, shelter, and other such things.

But we as believers in Christ need to know that our heavenly Father cares for us, He knows that we need all these things, and we should simply seek His kingdom first and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to us.

All the things we need will be added to us when we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. The unbelievers cannot understand this.

They value material possessions and daily necessities, but we value Christ, His kingdom, and His righteousness.

Christ came as God incarnated to be a man, and He did everything for the kingdom of God. He sought the kingdom of God first, and He sought God’s righteousness above all things.

Nothing in this life is more precious than the kingdom of God. We can see this only when we turn to our spirit, contact the Lord afresh, and remain in His word for Him to shine on us and cause us to have a change in our concept of value.

The kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure hidden in the field; when a man finds it, he hides it and in his joy goes and sells all that he has to buy that field, for the treasure is of utmost preciousness.

The Lord Jesus discovered the treasure of the kingdom of the heavens, and He gave Himself up with all that He had in order to buy the treasure.

He treasured the church, His Body, His bride, and His kingdom, to the extent that He gave Himself up for the church.

When we see Christ, enjoy Christ, and spend time with Christ in our daily life, we will also treasure what He treasures, and we will have a change in our concept of value.

Man does not treasure God’s kingdom, but God does; also, a believer with the Lord’s view knows the preciousness of the kingdom of the heavens. May we be such ones today, those who have a proper concept of value, even a concept of value that matches God’s!

Lord Jesus, grant us to have a change in our concept of value so that we may love what You love and treasure what You treasure! Amen, Lord, we treasure You. You are the precious stone. Though others rejected You and even put You to death, with God You are chosen and precious. Hallelujah, the stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner, and to us He is the preciousness! We treasure You and we love You, dear Lord Jesus! We want to seek You, pursue You, and gain You. All other things are refuse and dung in comparison with You. Oh Lord, may we see the preciousness of the word of the cross and may we treasure the cross even as God does. May we realise that the cross is the power of God to us, who are being saved! Amen, Lord, we seek You first, for we see Your kingdom and Your righteousness, fully trusting in You to care for all our needs! Praise the Lord, our heavenly Father knows what we need and He give sus all things when we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brother Ed Marks on this topic, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 60, pp. 387-389, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (part 3 – 2025 Summer Training), week 33, The Vision, Experience, Enjoyment, and Expression of the Supreme Preciousness of Christ for the Genuine Church Life – day 1.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Lord, how we treasure Thy value, / All that Thou art is for us; / While here in loving remembrance / We share Thy wealth glorious. / Thou art the Stone tried by many, / Precious to God, dear to us, / Thou art so sure and trustworthy, / Thy strength is so marvelous. / Thou art the Stone that is living, / Chosen of God, made our own; / So energetic and pow’rful, / With endless life to us known. (Hymns #199 stanza 2 and chorus)
  – Oh, cause me to appreciate / Thy breaking, never to complain; / And grant that I may value more / All kinds of loss instead of gain. (Hymns #749 stanza 8)
  – Seek the coming of His kingdom; / Seek the souls around to win them, / Seek to Jesus Christ to bring them: / Seek this first. / Seek this first, His promise trying; / It is sure, all need supplying. / Heavenly things, on Him relying, / Seek ye first. (Hymns #667 stanzas 6-7)