The Fallacy Sessions: What You Value

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

When Jesus spoke this phrase as part of His famous Sermon on the Mount (found in Matthew 6:21, NIV), He alone fully realized its significance. In essence, Jesus said, “The things you treasure – or in other words, value – will determine who you are.”

This raises the question, What do you treasure? What do you hold above all else? Today I’d like to ask you four big questions.

#1: What do you value?

Do you place your worth in what you do, who you know, the skills you possess…or in God? Because what you value will determine how you live. If you define your life by hobbies, sports, work, relationships, passions, and so forth, those things will become your treasure. You’ll do everything you can to make sure they stay at the top.

However, this comes at a cost. The more we value the things of this world, the less we treasure what Jesus has done for us. Personal experience has shown me that the more I pursue what the world calls “good”, the easier it becomes to fall into a life of comparison, jealousy, and worthlessness.

As martial arts icon and actor Bruce Lee put it, “The more we value things, the less we value ourselves.”

#2: What does the world value?

In June I published a post titled The Cost of Fame, explaining what went into the rise of YouTube’s most popular creator, MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson). Since then, dozens of allegations against MrBeast have risen to the surface, and if they’re true, let’s just say it’s not good.

So where does “treasure” come into this? In a 2021 video with Marques Brownlee, MrBeast made an emphatic – and concerning – statement about the goal of his life. Jimmy said, “My goal, and this is what it will be till the day I die, is to make the best YouTube videos possible.” At first, it sounds like a good thing. MrBeast wants to pursue excellence; what’s wrong with that?

Then I noticed that Jimmy didn’t mention anything about “at what cost”, or about how far he’s willing to twist things for the sake of a video. If this is truly what he believes (keep in mind, I obviously don’t have the whole truth), everything that has come to light doesn’t make a difference – what MrBeast values remains unchanged. He is still making the best videos possible, regardless of the price others pay.

Here’s the point: our values, and what we treasure, impact how we live. It’s true for individuals, and it’s also true for societies. If the world doesn’t value human life, how much easier does that make it for things like euthanasia and abortion to take place? If the world doesn’t value God’s sexual ethic, how much easier is it to pave the way for the sexual mess that is today’s society?

The world pushes the view that morality is subjective: each person can decide what they value. But the Bible states that morality is objective: it was given by God. As soon as we let flawed humans control the values of this world, things go downhill fast.

#3: What does God value?

John 3:16 (NIV) should clear things up: “For God so loved the world that He gave His own Son, so that whoever believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life.” (Caveat: what John means by “the world” is the people, not the physical planet we inhabit.)

I don’t think I can be any clearer. God values us. It’s why He sent Jesus to die so that we could live in Heaven with Him forever. And because God loves us, He also gave us a Book of instruction. No, God isn’t taking away our fun; He’s trying to steer us clear of danger and harm. He doesn’t want us to experience the pain of walking the devil’s road.

God loves us, and He treasures us more than anything else. He gets the final say about who we are – not some person at school, work, or on social media. I hope that reminder encourages you. Knowing the God of the Universe personally values you is a pretty crazy realization.

#4: Where is your treasure?

If Jesus isn’t your greatest treasure right now, I beg you to reconsider. The promise God offers us is ultimately better than anything the world can offer. Life on earth is a rat race, but God offers us a different route. We can follow Him, and one day make it to Heaven. It’s a fallacy to believe our treasure comes from the things of this earth, which will fade away the minute we die.

As Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 (NIV), “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Alone we can accomplish nothing of lasting value, but with God’s strength, we can do anything.

If we treasure Him above all else.

Do you?

As Scottish missionary David Livingstone aptly put it,

“I place no value on anything I have or may possess, except in relation to the kingdom of God.”