The Importance of Values

“How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, who seek Him with all their heart. They also do no unrighteousness; they walk in His ways. You have ordained Your precepts, that we should keep them diligently. Oh that my ways may be established to keep Your statutes! Then I shall not be ashamed when I look upon all Your commandments. I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments.” (rf. Ps. 119:1-7 NASB)

We live in a world today far different than the one I, and those of my age group, grew up in decades ago. Though the ‘60s and early ‘70s were an era of great turmoil and struggle for our nation, there was still an underlying bedrock of values, a foundation of right and wrong, a clear sense of good and evil. Due to failures in every arena of our culture and society, especially in the educational and religious realms, we have fallen to a belief system wherein a large sector of our populace affirms a relativistic view of truth and ideals. Because they hold to no standard of judgment or true justice, they accurately reflect the assessment of the writer of the book of Judges, “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes” (rf. Jdgs. 17:6).

Yet, this is not the ideal nor standard that God holds for His people, nor for any people, for that matter. The Lord has placed His Word in our realm to be the foundation upon which we are to live our lives, a basis which, if followed, will glorify Him and will prove to be a blessing of great proportions to us. This is exactly what King David is desiring to share with his readers in this longest song of the Psalms.

The Law of God was given to establish the way of God’s righteousness. We know that, in our efforts, we will fail to keep His Law. This is why Jesus came to fulfill God’s Law (rf. Mt. 5:17-18) and, therefore, by believing and trusting in Him, it is then fulfilled for us and His righteousness is applied to us (rf. Rom. 3:22). Thus, only if we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ can we effectively “observe His testimonies”, “seek Him with all (our) heart(s)”, “keep (His) statutes diligently”, and even “learn (His) righteous judgments”.

You see, contrary to the world’s assessment and beliefs, God has provided us a concrete set of values by which He expects us to operate. It starts with a personal relationship with Him through faith in His Son, Jesus. Once we pass through that door of surrendered trust, we will find a new world of blessing, as acknowledged by David, fulfilled to us as we live out our lives in obedience to Him and to His revealed Word. Not only will we find ourselves “established” when we willingly submit ourselves to this course of action, but the blessings we will experience will give us great reason to be thankful as well. May the Lord grant to every one of His people the light of His love to be able to see these truths and to follow accordingly.

Scripture Speaks of the Stranger in Our Midst

“When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.” (rf. Lev. 19:33-34 NASB)

“The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you.” (rf. Ex. 12:49)

^“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God…” (rf. Eph. 2:13-19 ESV)

            One of the key issues of our day is that of immigration. Indeed, so great are the emotions involved in this topic that, because of the personalities and political parties included with the dispute, the subject of immigration has caused deep divisions within the American people. As with most concerns of this nature, truth and objectivity have become casualties of these pitched battles of policies that take place in the media. Sadly, as with the general population, the American church finds itself split as to its response to this difficult problem as well.

            Apart from discussing the legalities and politics involved, there are, indeed, theological and spiritual dynamics in play here that must be considered by everyone who considers himself/ herself a follower of Jesus Christ. First of all, there is obedience to the two pivotal commandments of God: You shall love the LORD your God and you shall love your neighbor as yourself (rf. Mt. 22:36-40). Note that the second of these is referenced in the Leviticus passage above. It is the basis of God’s commandment to be kind to and receive with open arms the “stranger” that is in our midst. “Strangers” in the Old Testament were non-Jews who had decided to take up residence within the land of Israel. God reminded His people to be compassionate to them because, in their own history as slaves in Egypt, they, too, were “strangers” in a foreign land. In showing such love toward our “neighbor”, we are, in fact, showing God the love He desires, which, in itself, is an act of true worship.

            However, as noted above in the second passage, according to the Lord, the Law that governed Israel was just as applicable to the “stranger” as it was to the children of Abraham. God is not a deity who upholds the double standard when it comes to justice. He shows “no partiality” (rf. Rom. 2:11 ESV). Therefore, the “stranger” or sojourner (lit.) in Israel had to be notified that he or she was responsible for upholding the same precepts that the Jews were required to live by while he or she chose to abide within the boundaries of Israel. If the “stranger” deliberately chose to sin against the Law, he or she suffered the same punishment as did God’s people for committing the same trespass.

            Secondly, especially as Americans, we must be reminded that, unless our heritage is directly from a Native American lineage, we are the products of immigration ourselves. Personally, I come from a stock that is a combination of Scottish, Irish, French, German, and English ancestry. Some of us came as derivatives from aristocracy, others as merchants and businessmen. Still, many came to these shores, poor when they departed from their homeland, poor when they arrived here. A good number had their required papers ready for presentation to the proper authorities. Others snuck onto our land in whatever way they could. All desired to find freedoms that had not yet possessed and a new life for themselves and their families. We, today, are the beneficiaries of their sacrificial and diligent efforts.

            By the same token, the work of Jesus on the cross did what we ourselves could not do—He made us who were hitherto “strangers” into “natives” by bringing us into His family by His blood. In His atoning for our sins, Jesus tore down the barrier that had previously prevented us from being able to enter into His land as free citizens. Not only by His actions was the “wall” removed for us, He welcomed us in and made us residents of His kingdom. It truly was an act of mercy and grace on His part. So, if we have experienced His salvation first-hand, then we know exactly what is like to have been moved from being an “alien” to a “citizen”, undeservedly I might add, by no means of our own, but solely by the grace and power of God Himself.

          Compassion and true justice are not incompatible nor are they enemies of one another, both having their origins in the heart and being of our Lord. God often challenges us in His Word to think on things much differently and deeper than the does the world around us. As He reminds us from Scripture, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (rf. Is. 55:9). However, when we do listen and abide in His Word to us, we will find that, not only do we please Him by our thoughts and actions, we will actually have a greater impact on the world around us by the true love we share and the way in which we glorify Him in doing it. These are just a few thoughts for us to “chew on” for our spiritual growth.

The Reality of Love

 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (rf. Dt. 6:5 NASB)

“Hate evil, you who love the Lord, Who preserves the souls of His godly ones;

He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is sown like seed for the righteous

and gladness for the upright in heart. Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones, and give thanks to His holy name.” (rf. Ps. 97:10-12 NASB)

            Most of us have been raised with a very shallow concept of “love”. The term has been so romanticized that it is hard to separate its meaning from some level of pure emotion. For our unbelieving world, love is really nothing more than hormones ignited or animal magnetism at work (which is not surprising given their overwhelming affirmation of and belief in the theory of evolution). However, such a perspective voids the word, “love”, of the inherent richness and depth of its value. It is tantamount to expressing “light” only in terms of the amount of energy it displays. There is so much more to love than feeling alone!

            “Love” in the Bible is conveyed in terms of commitment, devotion, and sacrifice. As Jesus put it, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (rf. Jn. 15:13 NASB). One does not sacrifice oneself for others on a mere whim or by means of a passing impression. There is a greater intensity and gravity at work in one’s heart to move one to an action as this. In Jesus’ case, it was both His deep affection for His sheep to save them from their sin and to fulfill the will of the Father concerning these same sheep (rf. Jn. 10:11-29). His love was, then, action borne out of a heart of commitment, devotion and sacrifice, fully setting aside Himself on behalf of the benefit of the well-being of others.

            As Jesus so loved us and, especially, His Father, so He expects us to “love” Him and His Father (rf. Jn. 5:23; 14:21). This is not simply an emotional love that He speaks of. It is a love of total commitment of one’s life, energy and priorities. This is the very essence of Deuteronomy 6:5. Everything in our being we should give to the Lord out of our devotion to Him because of who He is, not simply for what He has done for us. Our love for Him should be as His love for us—unconditional.

            When we move from the shallow, emotional-based perspective to a commitment to an action-based, sacrificial view of love, we will also begin to see evil for the ugliness it represents as a contrast to the purity of this love, as noted by the psalmist above. Like darkness is to light, so is wickedness to unconditional love—it is reprehensible and worthy of our hatred, even as it is of God’s wrath. Evil stands for everything counter to God’s holiness and righteous will. It will come to a just end in God’s economy, rest assured. It is definitely not a sin to hate evil. Indeed, God already does. However, we must be careful not to stand in God’s stead, dealing out God’s final judgment on those who, at this point, are caught up in evil’s snares (rf. Mt. 7:1-5). We must remember that, had it not been for the grace of God, we would be in the very same traps, destined to eternal damnation, relishing in our own “pleasures of sin for a season” (rf. Heb. 11:25 KJV) without a clue of how desperate our situation truly is before God! We must learn the distinction between hating evil and loving our enemies, interceding for those ensnared in the clutches of wickedness.

            Thus, to love as God loves is a more profound concept than we have probably ever realized. This is the high calling which He has given each of us as believers. We are to “love” Him and our “neighbors” (those in need who cross our paths daily, especially in the household of faith—rf. Lev. 19:18; Gal. 6:10), but with a love committed to the benefit of others, even to the sacrifice of ourselves. May the Lord grant us the grace necessary for us to make the personal changes in our understanding of our love to match His!