Having a Proper Concept of Value and Treasuring Christ above All Persons and Things

As believers in Christ we need to have a change in our concept of value to treasure Christ above all, for He is the preciousness to us.

The reason we love the Lord and we love the church life so much that we are willing to offer everything we have and are for the Lord is because we value the Lord, we treasure Him, and our concept of value is aligned with God’s concept of value.

Before we were saved, we considered a certain set of things as being valuable, but after we repented and believed into the Lord, our concept of value has changed. Now we no longer treasure what we used to treasure, and we no longer spend time with things and people that before we use to be with.

The Lord Jesus spoke of this matter of the concept of value in Matt. 23:12-26, where He exposed the Pharisees as considering the things on the altar as being more valuable than the altar, the gold in the temple being more valuable than the temple, and tithing in little things more valuable than caring for the weightier matter of the law such as justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

As human beings we are born in sin and we are raised in a certain family with a particular environment, and we grow up with a certain set of values.

But after we believe into the Lord, our valuation system has changed. We may even give up certain habits, not talk to certain people, not do certain things, and not speak certain words simply because our concept of value has changed, and now we treasure the Lord above all things.

Now we as believers love to read the Bible, fellowship with the Lord, meet with the saints, pray, and sing, and we do not participate in the flood of dissoluteness that the world is in. God’s concept of value is different from our concept of value.

Many times a natural man treasures things that God hates, and he loves things that God disapproves of. The apostle Paul considered all things as a refuse and loss so that he may gain Christ, be found in Him, and have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ (see Phil. 3:8).

Man looks at outward appearance, but God looks at the heart; man would choose or side with certain people, but God knows their heart, and He knows who can lead His people (see the story of Samuel anointing David as king, 1 Sam. 16:7).

As believers in Christ, we need to come to the word of God and be in the meetings of the church enjoying the Lord with the saints so that our concept of value would be adjusted so that we would treasure what God treasures, and we would value Christ with His excellency more than anything or anyone else.

Having a Proper Concept of Value and Treasuring Christ above All Persons and Things

The proper concept of value for the believers can be seen in their estimation and assessment of Christ in His many aspects with His full salvation. There are at least ten particular aspects of Christ with His salvation that the Bible speaks of, and how our concept of value as believers should be.

Our Valuation of the Lord Jesus

Christ was rejected by the Jewish leaders, being considered something redundant, and they wanted to get rid of Him; however, the stone which the builders rejected, God has treasured and made the head of the corner (Psa. 118:22; 1 Pet. 2:7).

This is a change in the concept of value. Before we believed into the Lord, we didn’t consider Him to be much; but after we believed into Him, our valuation of the Lord Jesus has changed – now we treasure Him, we hold Him very high, and we consider that He is the most wonderful One.

What once was worthless to us, now is priceless; what was once untrustworthy is now trustworthy; what we once rejected – and others still reject, we treasure.

We treasure the Lord, for God treasures Him, and He is the Anointed One, the Beginning, the End, the life, the supply, and everything to us.

Our Valuation of the Word of the Cross

To those who are perishing – whether Jews or Gentiles – the cross is foolishness; it is foolish for them for someone to willingly go to the cross.

But to us, the believers in Christ, the cross is the power of God, and the word of the cross brings us salvation (1 Cor. 1:18; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18).

The people in the world despise the cross and anyone on it, and whenever someone denies himself and bears his cross, he gets trampled under their feet – for it is foolishness in their eyes. Yet the cross is held precious in our eyes as saved us, for it is the power of God.

We love the Lord Jesus, and because He went to the cross, we learn from Him and follow His pattern to willingly take up our own cross and follow Him, living the same kind of crucified life that He lived. To us the cross is not foolishness – it is the power of God!

Our Valuation of God’s Kingdom and Righteousness in comparison to our daily Necessities

The people in the world seek their daily necessities, being anxious concerning what they eat, what they wear, and where do they live; but we as kingdom people seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:32-33).

The greatest concerns of our human life are things pertaining to food, clothing, and housing, but as believers in Christ, we consider nothing more precious than the kingdom of God, for the Lord gave Himself up to purchase the kingdom, considering it as a treasure (Matt. 13:44).

Furthermore, before we believed into the Lord, we may have had no problem lying or stealing to meet our daily needs, but after we believe into the Lord, we would rather earn less than steal, and we would rather not lie than gain more.

We need to realize that, as believers in Christ, we treasure the kingdom of the heavens, for Christ as the kingdom was sown into us, and the church life is the kingdom life on earth today. Food and clothing are for our body, but our body exists for the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

This is a proper concept of value that we as believers have.

Lord Jesus, we treasure and seek Your kingdom and Your righteousness, believing that You will take care of all our needs. We love You, Lord, and we treasure what You treasure. You love the church, the kingdom of God, and You gave Yourself up for the church. We love the church, Lord, and we treasure the church as Your kingdom above our daily necessities. Lord Jesus, may our concept of value match Your concept of value, and may we treasure and value what You treasure and value!

Our Valuation of the Lord Jesus in Comparison to our Relatives

The Lord Jesus was very strong in His speaking concerning our family and relatives; He said that if we love our mother, father, wife, children, or relatives more than Him, we are not worthy of Him (see Matt. 10:37-38; Luke 18:26-30).

This doesn’t mean that, when we believe into the Lord, we sever all ties to our family, for the Lord is first and the only One for us.

Rather, when we believe into the Lord, our concept of value has changed; we used to treasure and value family above all, but now we value the Lord even above our family, and we follow Him.

We consider now that, if we love anyone more than the Lord, that person is an idol; so we love the Lord, and we want our relatives to all believe into the Lord. When comparing our father, our mother, our wife, and our children to the Lord, we as believers in Christ treasure Him above all things and persons.

And if they try to draw us away from the Lord claiming our love for them, we choose the Lord. We draw a clear separating line between us and our relatives, choosing the Lord above all; our own kin is precious, but they are no comparison to the Lord.

Our Valuation of our Soul in Comparison to the whole World

What shall a man be profited if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul-life? (Matt. 16:26)

The Lord here makes a comparison between our soul and the whole world: which one is more precious? Satan today is trying to buy man’s soul, and many people are giving away their soul for free, because they don’t believe their soul is worth anything.

When Satan came to the Lord, he offered Him the whole world in exchange for His worship, His soul; the Lord, however, considered God as more precious than anything, and He chose God. This is the only instance in the Bible where Satan offered a high price for man’s soul, and he didn’t succeed.

What is our system of valuation concerning our soul? Satan is enticing us with small benefits, small gains, that we would give him our soul.

We need to preserve the purity of our soul by being willing to forsake anything of the world, for our soul is for the Lord to be expressed and not to be filled with the satanic things in he world. We need to be adjusted in our concept of value, treasuring our soul more than the world itself.

Our Valuation of our Body in Comparison to the Seriousness and Consequence of Sin

Sin is a terrible thing in God’s eyes, so terrible that the Lord said that, if one of the members of our body (our eye, hand, or foot) cause us to sin, we should cut it off and remove it, for it’s better to enter into life maimed than be whole and burn in the fire (Matt. 18:8-9; 2 Pet. 3:10-13).

A man can relinquish his love for the world, but he may not be able to relinquish his love for his body.

Job, for example, maintained his integrity when he was first tempted by Satan (Job 2:3, 10), but when Satan touched his body, he cursed the day he was born and thus he failed. We love our body very much, but if preserving the body means preserving sin, we need to realize that it’s better to give up the body than to sin.

It is more serious to stumble and sin than to sacrifice the body.

We must have a change in our concept of value, realizing the seriousness of sin and restricting what we see and watch, what we touch and handle, and where we go, so that we may not sin. And we need to enjoy Christ as our sin offering every day so that He in us may repel the bugs and insects of sin in our being.

Lord Jesus, grant us to have a proper system of value concerning sin and our body. May we treasure You above all, and may we realize the seriousness of sin. May we see sin as You see it, and may we learn to limit the activities of our body so that we may not enter into sin. Lord, we take You as our sin and trespass offering so that You in us may deal with sin and even free us from the power of sin.

Our Valuation of Hierarchical Position in Comparison to being Slaves of the Lord and to One Another

The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great exercise authority over them; but among us in the genuine church life it should not be so, but we should all learn to be slaves to the Lord and to the saints (see Matt. 20:25-27; 1 Pet. 2:16).

Before we were saved, we may consider our rulers as our heroes, having high esteem for them, and even wanting to be one of them, ruling over others; but after we believe into the Lord, we still respect the authorities, but we consider being a slave to the Lord and to the saints more precious.

Now we treasure slaves and servants, realizing it is better to serve than to be served. The reason there are squabbles for recognition in the church life is because the worldly concept has crept in, and people want to be leaders; our normal situation should be that we all are slaves, serving God and the saints.

Because our concept of value has changed, now we are willing to be a servant, serving others with Christ and in Christ.

Our Valuation of Christ as Treasure of Justice in Comparison to Earthly Treasure

In Job 22:23-28 we see that some treasure gold and silver more than the Lord, but we should treasure Christ as the treasure of justice more than any earthly treasure. If we delight in the Lord and treasure Christ, He will be our treasure, and He will satisfy all our needs.

As believers in Christ we belong to Him, and we choose Him as our delight and satisfaction; the result is that we can lift up our countenance to God and be blessed by God.

If we value Christ as treasure of justice, our prayers will be heard, our choices and decisions will be blessed by the Lord, and light will shine on our way. This is the result of a change in the concept of value with those who turn to God.

We need to be rescued from the old realm of treasuring gold and silver (which are many times involved with injustice) and treasuring justice, Christ as the treasure of justice, above all.

Our Valuation of the Enjoyment of Sin in Comparison to the Unseen Reward

Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, considering the reproach of being one with God’s people greater riches than that of Egypt, for he looked away to the reward, persevering as one seeing the unseen one (Heb. 11:24-27; 1 Pet. 1:8-12; 2 Pet. 1:8-11; 2:20-22).

The world has a lot to offer to us, and the temporary enjoyment of sin may seem so appealing and sweet, but we as believers in Christ have regards more for the coming reward than the enjoyment of sin.

We have never seen Christ, but we value Him more than the seen things; by our spirit of faith we see the unseen One, and we look to Him with undivided attention, looking away from anything and anyone else.

The seen and momentary enjoyment of seen cannot compare with the unseen One whom we love, enjoy, treasure, and look forward to gain as a reward. Though He is unseen, we believe into Him, we love Him, and we are looking forward to the reward He has promised to us!

Lord Jesus, we love You! We have never seen You with our physical eyes or touched You with our hands, but we treasure You and love You above all things and persons! We choose to enjoy You, Lord, and we refuse the temporary enjoyment of sin. We look to You as the reward, the full enjoyment of Christ, and we consider the reproach of Christ as being more precious than the enjoyment of sin in this world. Oh Lord Jesus, how we love You!

Our Valuation of the Knowledge of Christ in Comparison to All Things

Paul willingly chose to have the loss of all things so that he would have the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, his Lord, on account of whom he suffered the loss of all things (Phil. 3:7-8).

Paul had a change in his concept of value; what things were gains to him before, now he counted as loss on account of Christ.

This should be our system of valuation also: we should treasure Christ above all, and we should consider the excellency of the knowledge of Christ more than anything else.

Christ has been anointed by God to be the Lord and King, the most Excellent One; for His sake, we need to be willing to suffer the loss of all things, counting them as refuse, that we may gain Christ.

The knowledge of Christ in an experiential and practical way should be most precious to us, and anything else – even good things – need to be put aside. This is the kind of change in valuation that happens to a Christian.

Lord Jesus, we love You above all things, and we treasure the excellency of the knowledge of Christ more than anything else this world has to offer. You are the most excellent One – You are anointed to be the King and the Lord! May we have a change in our system of value to treasure You more than anything else, and may we count all things as loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ! Lord Jesus, be more real and more excellent to us and in us!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 60, ch. 45 (A Change in Concept Concerning Value), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Genuine Church Life (2017 Thanksgiving Conference), week 3, The Issue of Life — the Church Life as a House of Feasting for God’s Building.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # ’Tis for God’s kingdom we press on, / Like Moses, we are for the Lord; / We suffer with God’s people here / And look away to the reward. / Richer by far, reproach of Christ, / Than Egypt’s treasures, which are sin; / By faith we leave Egyptian land, / Avoiding next age discipline. (Hymns #1298)
  # Whom having not seen, you love, you love; / Into whom though not seeing Him at present, / yet believing; / You exult with joy / That is unspeakable / And full of glory. (Scripture song)
  # Jesus Lord, I’m captured by Thy beauty, / All my heart to Thee I open wide; / Now set free from all religious duty, / Only let me in Thyself abide. (Hymns #1159)