Valuing Christ, our Soul, being a Slave, the Reward, and the Knowledge of Christ

As believers in Christ, we need to have a change in our concept of value to be those valuing Christ more than anything else; after believing into the Lord, we treasure things that we didn’t before, and we put aside things that before we used to consider precious. Being a born again Christian means that we have a different system of values: we now value more what God values as important, and we forsake what He does not appreciate.

When the Lord Jesus came as God becoming a man, He not only spoke the word of God, healed the sick, expressed God in humanity, and manifested God to man, but He also brought in a new system of values. If we read the Gospels we realize that the way the Lord thought and lived was different from our natural way of thinking and living.

He loved the sinners and allowed the sick to approach Him, healing them and giving them comfort through the gospel. He forsook His close relatives, choosing to be with His disciples and those who listened to His words. He rejected Satan’s offer of the whole world in exchange for worshipping him.

He considered Himself not a Rabbi or a Master, but a slave, serving those around Him. He hated sin but loved the sinner. He did many things, but through His words and living He expressed God and brought in a new way of living, a new system of values.

This One, this wonderful God-man, is now in us, and He is daily desiring to spread from our spirit to renew our mind and impart His concepts and system of values into us so that we may be made the same as He is life and nature but not in the Godhead. As believers in Christ we should appreciate Christ, His salvation, His words, and His concepts more than anything else.

Yesterday we saw how we need to value the Lord Jesus (even though others despise Him and reject Him), value the cross and the word of the cross (even though many consider it a foolishness), and value God’s kingdom and righteousness more than our daily necessities. Today we want to see more such ways of having our concept of value renewed and adjusted according to the word of God.

Loving Christ More than Loving our Close Relatives

In Matt. 10:37-38 the Lord Jesus said, He who loves father or mother above Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter above Me is not worthy of Me; and he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He said also something similar in Luke 18:26-30, and Peter touched on this matter in 1 Pet. 1:1, 17, and 2:11.

Our father, our mother, our wife (or husband), and our children are the most precious things to us; we treasure them more than life itself, and for their sake we do many things to protect them, love them, cover them, provide for them, and care for them. As long as these are not compared to or above the Lord, there’s nothing wrong in loving them.

But if a situation arises where we have to choose between the two, which one will we choose? The Lord is more precious and valuable to us than our own close family members, and we should love Him more than we love our family. If we have the proper concept of value as the Lord does, we will always choose the Lord first.

Valuing our Soul More than Valuing the Whole World

For what shall a man be profited if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul-life? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul-life? (Matt. 16:26) Man today treasures and loves the things in the world, and he is eager to sell his soul for the temporary benefits Satan offers him through the world. But to us as believers in Christ our soul should be more precious than the whole world!

The Lord Jesus was offered by the devil the whole world with all its riches – if He would just worship him and thus lose His soul, but the Lord rejected his offer. Satan would not give us the whole world in exchange for our soul – he doesn’t consider our soul being so precious, but he entices us with small benefits and gains so that we would degrade ourselves and sell our soul.

We should value our soul more than anything the world has to offer, realizing that our soul is an organ to express God by being renewed and transformed by the Lord. The whole world is less precious than our soul, and we would rather lose our soulish enjoyment in the world for the Lord’s sake than to sell our soul to Satan for some small benefits in the world.

Lord Jesus, uplift our valuation of our soul to realize that it’s not worth it to sell our soul in order to gain things in the world. Lord, we love You. Change our concept of values to match Your values. Strengthen us in our inner man to reject Satan’s offers and enticing. Lord, we choose to NOT sell our soul to Satan for the world but to lose our soulish enjoyment in this age for Your sake so that we may have the full enjoyment in the soul in the next age!

Considering the Seriousness and Consequence of Sin more than our own Body

In Matt. 18:8-9 the Lord Jesus said, If your hand or your foot stumbles you, cut it off and cast it from you; it is better for you to enter into life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. And if your eye stumbles you, pluck it out and cast it from you; it is better for you to enter into life with one eye than to have two eyes and be cast into the Gehenna of fire.

This is a hard word, and many have wondered what does it mean. What the Lord speaks of here is the seriousness and consequence of sin: it is more serious to sin than to lose a member of our body (also see 2 Pet. 3:10-13). We love our body and we don’t want to lose any member of our body, but we should consider sinning being more serious than losing our eye or our hand.

This requires that we have a change in our concept of value, realizing that, if our body entices us into sin, we should be willing to let it go and cut it off. This doesn’t mean we should physically cut off members of our body but relinquish our love for our body.

See the example of Job: when he was tempted by Satan, he kept his integrity, but when Satan touched his body, he cursed the day he was born, thus failing the test. As believers in Christ we need to value the seriousness and consequences of sin more than the members of our body.

Considering being a Slave as Greater than being a Master or a Lord

As believers in Christ we should value more being a slave than being a master or a lord. The Lord Jesus said in Matt. 20:25-27, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you shall be your slave.

As believers we should NOT practice or desire to be a ruler over others, but we should serve the saints in love just as the Lord served us and gave His life up for us (1 Pet. 2:16; 2 Pet. 1:1). We should even despise the position of “lords” and “masters” and we should treasure the position of “servant” and “slave”.

This requires a change in our concept of value, realizing that in God’s eyes being a servant to the saints is more valuable than desiring to or practicing to be a ruler over them. If we all serve one another in the church life, there will be no more arguments.

Many times a church is troubled because too many believers want to be the leader, the lord, and too many assume the position of lording it over others. How we need to be adjusted in what we treasure!

Lord Jesus, change our concept of value in regards to being a servant rather than lording it over others. Lord, save us from desiring to have a position in the church and from practicing to be a “lord” or a “master” over our fellow saints. Oh Lord, make us the same as You are, the Slave of God and the Servant of man to gain man for God. May we treasure being a servant to the saints more than having a hierarchical position over them!

Valuing Christ as the Treasure of Justice more than any Earthly Treasure

God treasures Christ more than anything else; we may treasure some earthly treasures, but we need to return to the Almighty, put away any injustice, put aside any earthly treasure, and the Lord Himself will be our treasure; He will hear us, He will be our delight, He will lift up our countenance, and His light will shine on our way (see John 22:23-28).

Christ is the real treasure of justice, and any earthly treasure – such as gold, silver, money, and other precious things – are treasures of injustice; we should value Christ more, love Him, and return to Him, and He will separate us unto Himself and even make us His treasure (see Matt. 12:18-21; Isa. 42:1-4; 1 Pet. 18-20).

Sometimes will be brought to a situation where we will have to make a choice: either the Lord or the gold and silver (the unjust treasures). We must choose Jehovah, and He will separate us unto Himself, we who treasure only the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen, may we be those valuing Christ more than anything and anyone else!

A Change of Concept regarding Enjoyment, Suffering, and Reward

When Moses grew up, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God rather than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin; he considered the reproach of the Christ being greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he looked away to the reward, and he persevered as one seeing the unseen One (Heb. 11:24-27).

Our concept of value regarding enjoyment, suffering, and reward needs to be changed according to God’s word; we need to choose what is important rather than the temporary enjoyment of sin.

Loving the Lord and following Him whom we have not seen yet we love – this is a path that leads through suffering, but we should look to Christ, exult in Him with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, and we will receive the end of our faith – the salvation of our souls (1 Pet. 1:8-12).

We shouldn’t be idle in enjoying the Lord and experiencing Him but rather be diligent to make our calling and selection more firm to have a rich entrance into the kingdom of the Lord (2 Pet. 1:8-11). It is more precious to enjoy Christ and suffer with Him than to have a temporary enjoyment in the world, and the reward awaiting us is more glorious than anything this world has to offer!

Valuing the Knowledge of Christ above All other Things!

The Apostle Paul had his value system changed by the Lord Jesus, the living Person who indwelt him, to the point that he testified that, what things were gains to him, these he counted loss on account of Christ, counting all things as loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, on account of whom he suffered the loss of all things and counted them as refuse so that he may gain Christ (Phil. 3:7-8).

We cannot physically see Christ but we love Him, and we cannot physically touch Him but we exult in Him with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory (1 Pet. 1:8), realizing that His divine power has given to us all things which relate to life and godliness through the full knowledge of Him who has called us by His own glory and virtue (2 Pet. 1:2-3).

On account of Christ, the excellent One, we should be ready to forsake all things and count them as loss so that we may gain Christ. We should treasure Christ and consider Him more precious than anything else, considering it as a privilege to love Him and gain Him, not counting the cost but just pursuing Him.

Oh, may we have our concept of value changed to treasure Christ more than anything else!

Lord, we count all things as loss on account of the excellency of Christ Jesus our Lord, on account of whom we are willing to suffer the loss of all things and even count them as refuse so that we may gain Christ! Dear Lord, we treasure the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and we want to pay any price to know You, gain You, pursue You, and be filled with You! Lord, nothing else compares to You; we consider You as being the most excellent One!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, brother Albert Lim’s sharing in the message for this week, and Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 60, pp. 390-395, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Crucial Points of the Major Items of the Lord’s Recovery Today (ITERO 2015 fall), week 3 / msg 3, The Supreme Preciousness of the All-inclusive Christ.
• All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
• Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
  # Press on, press on, count all things loss. / All that is gain to us, / To win the prize, the Christ of God, / Is far more glorious! (Hymns #1205)
  # Give up the world, Christ to obtain, / He is your heart’s very need; / What else can you desire or seek? / All things are empty indeed! / He is so rich, He is so full, / He can fulfill all your needs! / He is so good, He is so sweet, / All your desire He exceeds! (Hymns #1025)
  # Christ now is my center and reality, / My life for eternity. / All things are just dung compared to Him, / So love and just gain Him! (Song on Pursuing Christ)