OTHER THAN GOD AND YOUR FAMILY, WHAT DO YOU VALUE MOST?

OTHER THAN GOD AND YOUR FAMILY, WHAT DO YOU VALUE MOST?

 

 

It is easy in a busy society to lose sight of what’s really important.

 

That’s why it’s critical to stop periodically and take stock of what you hold dearest. Ask yourself today what you value most, other than what many consider the most obvious—God and family. Your checkbook register, credit card receipts, and daily calendar will give you significant clues. A great, secondary question to ask yourself is this: “Will I let God use what I value to accomplish his purposes?”

 

MOST VALUABLE AWARD

 

What gets top billing in your book: a six-figure salary, designer clothes, antique furniture, an expensive “toy,” or leading-edge technology? Do you most value opportunities to serve others or to tell others about Jesus’ love? Do you place the highest worth on liberty, excellence, time, truth, or your spiritual transformation process? Your friendships probably rank high on your values list, but do you place great value on your small group or your church leaders? Kay Rader, former world president of women’s organizations for The Salvation Army, has had her values engraved on her heart for many years.

 

KAY RADER HAS SORTED THROUGH HER VALUABLES

 

Kay and her husband, Paul, raised their three children as they served God in Korea for twenty-two years. After thirty-five years of service together, both stateside and abroad, Paul became the fifteenth General of The Salvation Army, and Kay served alongside him as president of women’s organizations. In 1999, she became the “first lady” of Asbury College in Kentucky, where her husband is president. She is an adjunct faculty member for the E. Stanley Jones School of World Mission and Evangelism at Asbury Theological Seminary. She also is a freelance speaker.

 

As a five-year-old, Kay confessed her sins and asked Jesus into her heart during family devotions with her parents. She says, though, that the ensuing years ran the gamut from high highs to low-lows, from victory to simple discouragement to crushing defeat. At age thirty-nine, she had a spectacular spiritual encounter during which she claimed Galatians 2:20 as her own: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” It changed her life, giving her an assurance of salvation and a hope for getting through the tough days that has not wavered since.

 

That experience of full surrender and Holy Spirit empowerment prepared her for an ever-enlarging ministry of teaching, preaching, and leadership. She has been intentional in her desire to serve women, particularly to help them realize their full potential for ministry.

 

Other than God, her husband, their family of three children, three “children-in-love,” and seven grandchildren, Kay says that relationships, health, freedom, nature, the lives of unborn babies, and intellectual pursuit are all high on her list of what she values. One of her favorite passages is Matthew 6:19–21, which says that the most valuable things we can desire are treasures laid up in heaven. Kay says, “All good things on earth are to be enjoyed, but holding them loosely works best for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

 

Other Than God and Your Family, What Do You Value Most?

Lydia Made Her Value a Priority

 

Lydia was a successful businesswoman and the apostle Paul’s first convert in Europe. She so valued her faith that she hosted the new church that was formed in the city of Philippi. Read Acts 16:11–15. After you are deceased, what do you suppose non-family members will think you valued above all else?

 

SCRIPTURE TO PONDER

 

[Jesus said,] “What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?” (Mark 8:36–37, MSG)

 

SUGGESTED PRAYER

 

Dear Lord Jesus, your words are clear that I, _________, am to value you and your truth. You say, “What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?” Today I ask specifically that you will help me prioritize my values, so I can store up treasures in heaven. I thank you in advance for your faithfulness in doing that for me.

 

So . . . What Insight, Prayer, or Action Step Has God Laid on Your Heart Today?