The Daily Grace - A Question of Values

What we value shapes our character. And, it will ultimately define how we lead or whether we can lead at all. This does not apply to leaders, however. For the follower of Christ, values are even more significant.

When Paul wrote to the believers at Colosse, he said, "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col. 3:2). His point is that only as we allow our values to be motivated and shaped by the eternal (not the temporal) will we be effective ambassadors of Christ in the world. It is in the understanding that we are pilgrims in this world, not tourists, that we can keep a clear perspective and an undistracted heart - and can more effectively serve the Lord. It has been said that we live in a world that knows the cost of everything but the value of nothing.

In this world of the "here and now", however, followers of Christ are called to build our values around what lasts forever. To say it another way: The effectiveness of a believer is directly proportional to that believer's values. Nothing is hid from God. Hold tightly to what is eternal, but loosely to what is temporal.