How shall we measure true value, true worth? The world is inclined to emphasize material things, including money, as an indication of wealth. Yet in the book of Proverbs we read (22: 1), "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold." And later we read (verse 4), "By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life."
It is evident from these and other Biblical passages that a true character, based on the love of God and the exercise of humility or the practice of unselfed love, constitutes true worth and real riches. Jesus demonstrated true value throughout his career. He referred to the foxes which had their holes and the birds which had their nests, and then said that he, the Son of man, had no place to call his own. Yet at that moment he, as the Son of God, had available to him all the resources of heaven and earth, all the power and riches of God, divine Mind. And he demonstrated this fact by his wonderful works.
In the Sermon on the Mount, the Master showed the great value of purity, humility, and spirituality in daily living. He said that through the exercise of these qualities, one sees God and inherits the kingdom of heaven. The true understanding of God and man as revealed in Christian Science is compared, in a parable of Jesus', to a pearl of great price.
