What Is Truly Valuable?

“Many of them lead lives of emptiness, cannot hold a job, have no lasting relationships and move aimlessly from place to place in an isolated orbit​—and no one cares. The reason: They are extremely rich.”​—The New York Times, May 15, 1984.

YOU well know that money is needed to obtain food, clothing, shelter, transportation, medical aid, and other essentials for life. In fact, you probably realize that in modern society it would be difficult to live without money, for, as the Bible says, “money is what meets a response in all things.”​—Ecclesiastes 10:19.

Yet, the newspaper article quoted above dealt with the emotional problems of the rich. Clearly, there would be a danger in centering your life on acquiring money and possessions. Still, many people do it. At times, greedy ambition is fatal. We hear of hard-driving men in their 30’s and 40’s dying of a heart attack. Some of these risked their health, even their lives, to fulfill their ambitions involving money. We do not have to be deeply religious to agree that it would have been better if they had taken to heart Jesus Christ’s words: “What benefit will it be to a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his soul? or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”​—Matthew 16:26.

What Is of Real Value?

You certainly know that there is no end of things that we might be tempted to seek. A video tape recorder, a private home, expensive sports equipment​—in some lands these are items to reach for. Elsewhere the goal may be of more limited value. A young woman in one land prostituted herself to get money for nicer clothes.

While we may realize that there are dangers associated with a purely materialistic approach to life, how can we protect ourselves? Must we turn our back on society, becoming recluses or hermits as some have done? Also, when considering what is truly valuable, we should ask, What will bring me genuine happiness and contentment in the long run?

As an aid, let us consider the example of a man who for centuries has been respected and admired as a role model. He was a rabbinical lawyer and part of a first-century Jewish sect noted for being “money lovers.” (Luke 16:14) His name was Paul, and he had the education and the needed drive to accumulate wealth and to gain ever greater status in the community.

However, through a shocking experience, he discerned that something quite different was actually of utmost value in life. Whether you presently are of the same mind or not, it is worth your while to reflect on what Paul concluded.

He determined that the primary thing of value in life was an approved standing with God as a disciple of Jesus. This was so valuable that Paul, as an apostle of Jesus, was able to endure hardships and persecutions. He was like an earlier man of renown, Moses, who “esteemed the reproach of the Christ as riches greater than the treasures of Egypt.”​—Hebrews 11:26; 2 Corinthians 11:23-27.

You should also know that Paul never regretted that becoming a Christian apostle had resulted in loss of prominence in Jewish society. After having enjoyed about 25 years as a devoted Christian, he wrote: “What things were gains to me, these I have considered loss on account of the Christ. Why, for that matter, I do indeed also consider all things to be loss on account of the excelling value of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. On account of him I have taken the loss of all things and I consider them as a lot of refuse, that I may gain Christ and be found in union with him.” (Philippians 3:7-9) You will have to agree that Paul was convinced that he had gained something truly valuable.

Paul’s choice did not mean that he no longer had any material things. Reflect, for instance, on his words: “In everything and in all circumstances I have learned the secret of both how to be full and how to hunger, both how to have an abundance and how to suffer want.”​—Philippians 4:12.

Whatever your situation is regarding Christianity, likely you can see how fine the outcome was for Paul. His choice as to what is valuable brought him a contentment that escapes the world’s richest men and women. Jean Paul Getty, the millionaire oilman, confessed: “Money doesn’t necessarily have any connection with happiness. Maybe with unhappiness.”

Yet, a person might claim to be a Christian and still fail to recognize what is most valuable. That was true in the first century, for Paul said of one associate: “Demas has forsaken me because he loved the present system of things.” (2 Timothy 4:10) At a time when he could have helped the imprisoned apostle, Demas gave up, preferring what the present system offered him.

Pointing to the grave danger into which a materialistic view could put a Christian, Paul stated: “Those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires, which plunge men into destruction and ruin. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things, and by reaching out for this love some have . . . stabbed themselves all over with many pains.”​—1 Timothy 6:9, 10.

You might well ask, then, What role should money or possessions play in my life? Let us examine the matter further to see how you can possess what is truly valuable.

Jesus wisely advised: “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:20) What are these “treasures”? They constitute our individual record of fine works, our being rich toward God. ‘What,’ you may ask, ‘does that require of me?’ In part, the Bible answers that it means “to work at good, to be rich in fine works, to be liberal, ready to share.”​—1 Timothy 6:18.

Around the earth today, there are millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses who can honestly testify that sharing spiritual and material things with others​—particularly helping people to learn about the Kingdom hope by engaging in preaching, teaching, and disciple-making activities—​are fine works that have Jehovah’s approval and that bring real satisfaction. Not even death can rob a person of the rewards that such laying up of treasures in heaven brings. Why is that so? Jesus promised: “I am the resurrection and the life. He that exercises faith in me, even though he dies, will come to life.”​—John 11:25.

Priceless Treasures We Can Enjoy Now

After saying that we should rest our hope “on God,” Paul continues that it is ‘God who furnishes us all things richly for our enjoyment.’ (1 Timothy 6:17) Besides the daily necessities of life, the Most High lovingly provides priceless treasures for those people whom he approves. What are such treasures?

Note what Proverbs 3:13-18 says: “Happy is the man that has found wisdom, and the man that gets discernment, for having it as gain is better than having silver as gain and having it as produce than gold itself. It is more precious than corals, and all other delights of yours cannot be made equal to it. Length of days is in its right hand; in its left hand there are riches and glory. . . . It is a tree of life to those taking hold of it, and those keeping fast hold of it are to be called happy.” So “wisdom” is a treasure that surpasses the value of all the world’s riches.

Wisdom is the application of knowledge in the right way. It is the ability to use knowledge and understanding successfully to solve problems, to avoid, or avert, dangers, to attain certain goals or to help others to do so. Do you not agree that today we need such wisdom in order to deal with life’s trials successfully and to maintain a good standing with God?

In describing wisdom, Proverbs 3:13-18 highlights happiness. Is happiness not a treasure that all of us desire? Godly wisdom will give us this happiness because true happiness can come only from its Source, Jehovah God. Experience has proved that true happiness cannot be attained apart from obedience to the Most High and yielding to the operation of his spirit. The happinesses promised in the Bible depend on our proper relationship, or approved standing, with our heavenly Father. (Matthew 5:3-10) Therefore, by applying what we learn from study of the Bible, we will be displaying “the wisdom from above” that will give us the happiness that all the riches in the world cannot procure.

Recall also, though, that Proverbs 3:16 states: “Length of days is in its right hand.” This is understood to refer to the right hand of protection, the hand that is ready to help and safeguard a person at critical times. Today many engage in loose living, sexual immorality, drug abuse, and so forth. Likely you have read that AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is linked to such practices. From what you have observed, are people who practice those things truly happy? Or do they bring upon themselves and others much sorrow and pain, even death?

In contrast, the application of the wise counsel from God’s Word will always be at our “right hand” to protect us from such dangers. Therefore, wisdom can lengthen our life, guarding us from a course that would lead to a premature death. Thus, godly wisdom is certain to make our present life a more pleasant one.

Walk Wisely Now

The evidence all around us shows that we are living in “the last days” of this system of things. (2 Timothy 3:1-5) Hence, it is vital that we be on guard against succumbing to the spirit of the world. Such a spirit emphasizes material things by appealing to selfish desires. One charge brought up concerning Job, a faithful man of Bible record, was that this man served God for selfish considerations, for material gain. (Job 1:9-11) Could such a charge truthfully be brought against us?

If we answer no, we might be successfully resisting today’s materialism. But this danger, materialism, is one of the most subtle that we face. Jesus Christ said that “the anxiety of this system of things and the deceptive power of riches choke the word.” (Matthew 13:22) Clearly, we must constantly be on guard against “the deceptive power of riches,” for these are not truly valuable.

We need to remind ourselves of the relative worth of material things. God’s Word says: “The valuable things of the rich are his strong town, and they are like a protective wall in his imagination.” (Proverbs 18:11) Yes, the security that riches can provide is sheer imagination, a deception. It is not that the material things in themselves are bad. What is wrong is the centering of our lives around them rather than on gaining God’s approval. Jesus, who is recognized as one of history’s wisest teachers, pointedly said: “Even when a person has an abundance his life does not result from the things he possesses.”​—Luke 12:15.

So let us pursue a course in life that will make us “rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21) Nothing is more valuable than an approved standing with the Creator. All efforts to maintain it contribute to our ‘treasuring up for ourselves a fine foundation for the future, in order that we may get a firm hold on the real life.’​—1 Timothy 6:19.