VALUE SHIFT

Message by Dr. Tunde Ayeye

The times we live in today are very dangerous times that we need to have full knowledge and understanding of the times so as to fulfill God's purpose in our lives. 1Chronicle 12:32; 2Tim.3; Matt.24.
We must adjust to the changing times and hold tightly to unchanging values.
There is no change without a sacrifice, that is, sacrifice of values. You need to sacrifice your bad values not the right, good ones for you to experience a true change.
The world - whole creation await the manifestations of the children of God. Rom. 8:18-19. The world is waiting anxiously to see the release of the destinies of the sons of God.
For us to fulfill divine purpose, it’s highly important that we build our lives on right values. That is, to meet the plans of God for your life, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

1. Who am I?
2. What defines me?
3. What are my guiding principles?
4. What are the rules or boundaries that govern my life?
5. What are my reputations?
6. What memories am I leaving in the minds of people I meet in my life’s journey?
7. Who or what do I see when I look into the mirror?
8. What I see each time I look into the mirror, is it real or virtual image?
9. What will be written on my tomb-stone after my demise?
10. What values do I leave by?

All the questions above are subsumed in the last question – what values do I leave by?
The way to know what hold the most meaning for you is to define your values. Values are so important and indispensable that we define all things in life around them.
There is a difference between principles and values. Principles don’t depend on you. They come to us in natural and supernatural forms as effects which affect our lives. Values are as a result of the way we see things, our daily perceptions, and decisions borne out of our daily thoughts or cognition.
So, principles define the way things are; that’s why they come to us in form of laws, or rules and they determine the way things are. Values are the way we see things – individual cognition. So why don’t you increase your cognitive power or ability.
When you build your values on right principles (divinely instructed principles), you are taking a conscious decision towards eternal bliss and fulfillment. You can only build values on principles you know, that you have learnt either by conscious efforts or otherwise.
Every kingdom, establishment and organization has its guiding principles which explain the way the citizens are expected to live ad it also inform their value system. And these values are what the organization ethics are based on.
These principles determine the way they are governed and how they run things, that is, their mode of operations.
John Arbuthnot Fisher once said, “Our society's values are being corrupted by advertising's insistence on the equation: Youth equals popularity, popularity equals success, and success equals happiness.”
The world we live in has a way of imposing on us its cruel principles and causes us to form wrong values which have resulted into moral decadence, impiety and loss of the sense of the spirit; a situation where abnormal things have become norms and cultural accepted practices. Therefore, the dire need for a value shift in other to please God ad fulfill His purpose. To experience a positive value shift, you need to firstly discover the laid down principles of the divine kingdom where we belong. So, absolute obedience as in sheer adherence to these principles is key to building right values that will eventually determine our behaviour and attitudes.
Our behaviours determine our attitudes and relationships; and our life is a function of our relationships. Behaviours and attitudes directly depend on your values. So, if you want to deal with your life to experience a change, all you need to do is to deal with your values – change the principles you obey to right godly principles, build your values around them and adhere solely to them.
The principles of the gospel of Christ are the best moral, cultural, political, economical… (name it) principles you can ever imagine in life. All that pertains to life and godliness are in the knowledge of these principles. 2Peter 1:3.
Pause for awhile! Ask yourself these salient questions: what determines what you do? I mean your daily choices. Is it Hollywood, Bollywood, Nollywood, the selfish desires of your hearts or the words of God?
To experience a change, you need to discover the right principles from the gospel of Christ – His teachings and walk in conformity to these principles.
You don’t become righteous because you do right things, but you do right things because you are righteous. 1Cor.1:30. God made you righteous the very day you gave your life to Christ. This answers the question why people who are not saved (accepted Christ as their Lord and personal Savior) can’t do right things, but perhaps good things. You need to develop same attitudes as Jesus by applying same principles and getting same right godly values all from His word. Phil.2:5.
God’s righteousness is in you and gives you the ability (also increases your capacity) to do right things and judge rightly. You don’t build right values in a day (just as Rome was never built in a day), but build them daily. Life is not a destination but a journey. It happens daily.
Values are things that you build in your heart through cognition. That’s why the battle (struggle) of man is in the mind/heart. You need to feed your spirit-man rightly with the sincere milk from the word of God daily so as to allow it control your heart rightly and build right values that will enable you fulfill purpose. 2Cor.10:2-6; 1Pet.2:1-3.
Your values will determine your decisions and your ability to judge rightly (discernment). Don’t allow the society and its wrong vices to determine or influence your values and decisions, but allow the word of God through His Spirit to influence your cognitive thinking. Rom.8:26-27.
Sometimes, you find yourself behaving incongruent to what is right or you wish to do, it’s all because of your values.
You can easily observe in the world today that there is a generational shift in values; ranging from culture (fashion, morality…), belief system, economy, governance (politics), etc. The trend of world principles that we now embrace today are initiating things that affect us in all ramifications of life, making us to shift our focus from God to trivial things. So, there are serious values shift in this generation than ever before. There is a change in puritan (adherent or conservative) values to conformist (liberal) values in this present age. The old puritan values are made outmoded while the conformist or liberal values that characterize the present times we live in are well celebrated.
People now prefer taking short-cuts to achieve their goals in life; short-cuts like bribery, begging, stealing, fornication, adultery, and other forms of compromises and immoral acts. You need to understand that these ways and principles of the world are anti-God’s principles and will lead to nowhere.
Finally, time is an important tool in developing values. What you spend your most of you time doing directly affects your value development. Spending most of your time watching pornography, TV, films, football, playing video games, gossiping, reading immoral books, etc will only ensure your building of wrong values that are being portrayed and thought through these media. They are all based on the world philosophies, principles, experiences, ideologies and values. Spend most of your time on the word of God that will inform your heart on godly virtues. Feed your heart or mind with right information and values and you will see yourself developing godly characters.

Watch your words, they become your thought;
Watch your thoughts, they become your ideas;
Watch your ideas, they become your values;
Watch your values, they become your characters or behaviours;
Watch your characters or behaviours, they become who you are;
And who you are defines your purpose and destiny.
------------ Pastor Mrs. Taffi L. Dollars (World Changers International Church)

For you to fly, you need to learn how to crawl first. Emulate right values from godly people around you and abscond from evil men. Choose to be different.
Build right values like commitment, hardwork, integrity, honesty, patience… Do things that you will be happy to see your children emulate in the nearest future. Determine and resolutely dislike wrongs values. You have the grace of God given to you already. Titus 2:11-13.
Consider your life and ask what values are you building around them? Your career, relationship, finance, spiritual life, dressing (fashion and style), business, family and friends, etc.
Let your values be forged in line with the Holy Spirit. 1Cor.11:1; Phil.2:2-5.

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