Passing on Values

Whenever we talk about the “transfer of values,” our material possessions come to mind, but on this occasion we do not want to refer to them, but rather to something that reaches much deeper than mere property, something that touches the human spirit.

This act of transferring values does not involve investing in documents before a notary to put our last will and testament in writing, but rather transforming our lives toward a way of life that impacts everyone around us, so that when they look at us, they may see the face of God and feel His love through the way we express ourselves and through what we express.

Every second of our existence, we are transferring spiritual values that, in the end, are the true possessions we have. We can be stripped of everything—our clothes, our household appliances; our home can collapse—but no one can take away our spiritual values.

Anyone who does not nourish their spirit is completely naked before the world and before the Father. When Adam sinned in paradise, it was then that he realized he was naked.

When we sin, that is when we realize how spiritually fragile we are and how impoverished we are. We are naked! David was, too, when the prophet Nathan made him aware of his sin. From that moment on, David lost the peace and joy he had in Jehovah, and his heart was broken; he acknowledged his sin, and God forgave him, because God knows the intentions of our hearts.

Anyone who wants to know what David felt at that moment should read Psalm 51, a beautiful psalm that each of us ought to repeat several times a day. How much repentance David showed when he stood naked before God! None of his riches could deliver him from the pain of having sinned against God. Only by strengthening his spirit through confessing his sin and repenting did God forgive him for such a grave offense, and David is called “a man after God’s own heart.”

That is how it is: God has an infinite memory for some things, especially positive things. God is capable of forgetting negative things according to our attitudes. Human beings, on the contrary, have a very poor memory for good things; however, when it comes to unpleasant and negative things, we have the memory of an elephant.

Let me give you an example: some time ago, my husband’s eldest son and his wife, who are Christians, were upset with each other. Faced with this situation, they simply stopped speaking to one another. When I called him to lovingly rebuke him for his attitude, he told me, “When you and my dad stop speaking to each other, we don’t say anything; we just serve as translators.”

I had to remain silent, because he made me realize what a terrible testimony we had shown him as a married couple, even though he did not remember that this had not happened between his father and me for a long time, because I had resolved in my heart that I would not allow us to stop speaking to each other or to sleep separately, since we already displease God in enough ways without adding others.

But we realize that every attitude our children have—not only the good ones, but the bad ones as well—is part of a learning process. And we are the example they follow!

I ask myself, when are we going to fix our eyes on Christ? Are we always going to keep looking to the side instead of looking upward? We Christians are committed to being an example of Him, to displaying His image; this is the only way we can truly transmit values.

So, what can we do?

I believe the first thing we can do is place ourselves in God’s hands. Let us surrender ourselves to Him, and that means seeking Him day and night. Only by learning and incorporating into our lives the teachings the Father left us in His Word will we be able to accomplish this. Only then will we be transformed and be able to win lives for Christ. Everyone wants the best for their lives; we have the best! Let us show it to the world around us!

As the Word says, a hidden light cannot shine. Let us place the light of Christ on high so that everyone may be dazzled by it! The only way to transform a life is to be a living example to follow.