AllHoursChurch

Vital Values

Creeds are far less important than values. Values build moral and ethical character. They are the things we work to save and preserve with all our strength. Values are not a set of beliefs, though we may value our beliefs. Values help us see what is important and what is secondary. It is less important that someone share our opinion than it is that we show them the love of Jesus Christ through service with forebearance, through hospitality toward strangers, through guidance in the bonds of peace, through humble gratitude, through words of encouragement and direction, through open arms that reflect tolerance and respect without judgement.

To value tolerance and to accept unconditionally does not mean compromise. Honesty is a value. Integrity is a value. Brotherhood and bondservice are values. Mercy, humility and tolerance are all values and these should be visible to the world.

Creeds are matters of faith. The Lord died for us while we did not yet know Him, while we were yet sinners, not because we correctly believed, nor because we had yet overcome sin, but because He first loved us. Jesus Christ's love is the critical value of God's revealed love from which we learn all other values and by which we discern the truth. The message and love of Jesus Christ are conveyed through His church when His church operates by the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control and these are the vital values we admonish the church to work towards with all diligence.

When the Spirit is in our midst, some also will receive His gifts - wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, reverence and the fear of the Lord. These also can be discerned by the world. When we hold our values above our creeds, creeds will each be received in their time because the Spirit will reveal all things that any cannot yet bare. We hold as a vital value then, that we should love one another, showing one another respect and commitment - lifting each other up. When we do this, we will be a true light on a hill visible through the night. The world does not know or receive Him, but we are called to be the children of the light. One thing we can all do is make this light shine, not under a bushel, but in a display of unity among Christians that transcends differing creeds, trumping them with respect and service toward one another in the love of Jesus Christ.