Valuing Jesus
as Much as He Values Us
June 9 | Discipleship Guide
Be Real Together:
Take a few minutes to catch up, tell stories, and laugh together. Trust and friendship take time to build. If you’re launching a new DNA, one person should tell their story — what do we need to know about you? Next week, have another person in your DNA share their story.
Read Together: Matthew 13:44-46 CSB
In Matthew 13:44-46, we wrestle with two interpretations of two parables Jesus shared. One interpretation - the Messianic Interpretation - believes the man and the merchant to be Jesus. It's thought that Jesus finds the treasure (Israel) and the pearl (the Church) and sells everything through his work on the cross. The second interpretation - the Individual Believer Interpretation - believes the man is a Jew and the merchant a Gentile making the treasure/pearl found, the gift of salvation. While both offer key points, they both offer one simple truth: Jesus' value system is different than our value system. Through this message, we discover how both interpretations highlight Jesus' different value system and call for a reorientation of the heart.
The One Question:
Ask this question at your family meal or DNA.
We consistently fail, in our sinful flesh, to live lives aligned with the desires of the heart of God. This means we often live with multiple areas of our lives misaligned from the things of God....which can feel really overwhelming. Instead of beating yourself up over every area of failure, take a moment to consider whether there could be ONE area God is asking you to realign with His paradigm. What area of your life has God been calling you to reorient around HIS value system?
Use these questions to go deeper with your DNA or for personal study.
- Often in Western culture, we falsely believe that we have to bow down to statues or posters of false gods to be practicing idol worship. In reality, it's just the practice of putting things before God. This could look like putting sleep above time with God, putting your family before time with God, putting your career before God, and so on. What idols need to fall to the wayside or be intentionally cut away in your life?
- God is not about behavior modification. He's about relationship that leads to deep heart transformation. How can you organize your heart, and therefore your life, around the things of Christ?
- God made us for community. He did not make our faith something we can work out on our own. Iron cannot sharpen itself (Proverbs 27:17). How can your community help hold you accountable to a deeper pursuit of Jesus?
Pray Together:
Take time to pray with and for each other.
Deeper Study:
Enduring Word Commentary: Matthew 13