{"id":822,"date":"2011-06-15T20:10:16","date_gmt":"2011-06-15T20:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aaronmatthew.com\/blog\/?p=822"},"modified":"2011-07-30T19:08:53","modified_gmt":"2011-07-30T19:08:53","slug":"get-all-of-your-worth-and-life-from-jesus-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.aaronmatthew.com\/blog\/2011\/get-all-of-your-worth-and-life-from-jesus-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"Get All of Your Worth & Life From Jesus Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout my life, I have witnessed people who call themselves \u201cChristian\u201d using things other than Christ as sources of life and personal worth.\u00a0 They value these things so highly that an attack against these is perceived as an attack\/offense against their person.\u00a0 I too, have at times fallen into this way of thinking and living.\u00a0 This has caused me to regularly examine and question what I am getting worth from and to re-focus on what I SHOULD BE getting life from.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Psalm 142:5 (NLT)<\/strong>
…you, O LORD…are my refuge. You are all I really want in life…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here are just a few of the MANY<\/strong> artificial life sources that Christians mistakenly focus on and use:<\/p>\n

Denominational Distinctive.<\/strong> I have seen \u201cChristians\u201d who are really consumed and concerned with their identities as Pentecostals, Baptists, Catholics, etc.\u00a0 Their denominational distinctive has become their source of identity and personal worth. They live to prove why their group is the right one and why\/how other groups are \u201clacking\u201d or \u201cin error\u201d.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Political ideologies<\/strong>. Whenever their political party loses, some folks are devastated; they view it as a personal loss. Whenever someone on TV attacks or mocks their position, they take it as a personal offense.\u00a0 These folks derive life from seeing political opponents lose and also from the expansion and implementation of their political agendas.<\/p>\n

Secondary Christian Beliefs<\/strong>.\u00a0 These may include important christian teachings about the \u201cend times\u201d, creation (i.e. literal genesis interpretation), predestination and forms of baptism. While these are all important things to study and discuss, they should never be the focus or a \u201csource of life\u201d.<\/p>\n

Extreme patriotism<\/strong>. I know I may be treading on thin ice with some folks on this one, so please hear me out as I cautiously explain. There is NOTHING wrong with loving our country. We are commanded by God to\u00a0love everyone.<\/strong> The problem arises when we love our country MORE than Christ OR when we try to \u201cserve two masters\u201d (i.e. God and country).\u00a0 Christ was quite explicit that we cannot<\/strong> serve two masters (Matthew 6:24).\u00a0 Our christian love for others must extend BEYOND our country to the ENTIRE WORLD. The way some folks express their patriotism is almost idolatrous. Though Christ did occasionally mention his Jewish heritage, HE never went \u201cout of his way\u201d to FOCUS ON or express<\/em> his Jewish patriotism.\u00a0 If anything, He went out of his way to verbally chastise the Jews and point out their arrogant and idolatrous patriotism. If we aren\u2019t careful, our patriotism can become a form of idolatry and a form of pride as well as an artificial life source.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a true follower of Christ, you have to concede that none of these things were designed by God to give you life or give you worth.\u00a0 At some point EVERYTHING WILL FAIL YOU.\u00a0 This is a promise!\u00a0 The only true source of life is JESUS CHRIST. \u00a0Christ came to “give life and life in abundance<\/em>” (John 10:10) HE IS THE FOCUS. HE IS THE REASON. ONLY HE GIVES MEANING AND VALUE TO LIFE.<\/p>\n

All other things only provide ARTIFICIAL LIFE.\u00a0 What is more, if you are receiving life from any other source, YOU HAVE MADE AN IDOL OUT OF THAT THING.\u00a0 An idol is ANYTHING that takes the place of God. God is the \u201cgiver of life\u201d. We should look to HIM as our life source and NOTHING ELSE.<\/p>\n

If you are getting all of your life and all of your worth from Christ, then nothing else really matters. Your politics can be attacked, secondary beliefs can be disproved, your denominational distinctives can be scrutinized or even ridiculed without you feeling like you personally are being attacked or discredited.<\/p>\n

God is still on the throne and HE is still in control. Get all of your worth and all of your life from Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

What things am I \u201cgetting life and worth\u201d from that I shouldn\u2019t be? This is a question that we should ask ourselves regularly.<\/p>\n

Psalm 68:26 (NLT)<\/strong>
\u201cPraise God, all you people…praise the Lord, the source of life.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Throughout my life, I have witnessed people who call themselves \u201cChristian\u201d using things other than Christ as sources of life and personal worth.\u00a0 They value these things so highly that an attack against these is perceived as an attack\/offense against their person.\u00a0 I too, have at times fallen into this way of thinking and living.\u00a0 … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Get All of Your Worth & Life From Jesus Christ”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nGet All of Your Worth & Life From Jesus Christ - Talking About Jesus<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.aaronmatthew.com\/blog\/2011\/get-all-of-your-worth-and-life-from-jesus-christ\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Get All of Your Worth & Life From Jesus Christ - Talking About Jesus\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Throughout my life, I have witnessed people who call themselves \u201cChristian\u201d using things other than Christ as sources of life and personal worth.\u00a0 They value these things so highly that an attack against these is perceived as an attack\/offense against their person.\u00a0 I too, have at times fallen into this way of thinking and living.\u00a0 … Continue reading "Get All of Your Worth & Life From Jesus Christ"\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.aaronmatthew.com\/blog\/2011\/get-all-of-your-worth-and-life-from-jesus-christ\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Talking About Jesus\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-06-15T20:10:16+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-07-30T19:08:53+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.aaronmatthew.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/subheader_YourWorth.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"220\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.aaronmatthew.com\/blog\/2011\/get-all-of-your-worth-and-life-from-jesus-christ\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.aaronmatthew.com\/blog\/2011\/get-all-of-your-worth-and-life-from-jesus-christ\/\",\"name\":\"Get All of Your Worth & Life From Jesus Christ - 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