True or False?

We often cringe when the systems of value that we live by are challenged, and the society around us continues to change. Values are essential to one’s culture and traditions, and are things that people hold very dear. I once read a magazine article that said mankind starts out in slavery and goes through stages to reach utopia, only to descend backwards through the same stages, returning eventually to slavery. It seems that this is the path we follow today in Western society; all too often, as our values shift, change and even fade with each new generation, people become susceptible to “new,” less reliable values that are often based purely on fiction or false ideas.

Society today is filled with such ideas that people now pin their hopes on. Promises made by political parties, cheap entertainment and celebrity-worship, “new” age morality and religious ideas founded on pagan or humanist points of view are all taken up, and people look to these things to solve their problems or to escape reality. God warned anciently that where there is no “vision” or hope for the future, people go astray and make foolish decisions (Proverbs 29:18), or as the NLT translates, they “run wild” when they reject divine guidance from the Creator. The basic tendency of human nature is to seek out and follow after “whatever [seems] right” in one’s own eyes (Deuteronomy 12:8; Judges 17:6; cf. Romans 1:18-28).

Just as Romans 1:22 warns, people see themselves as wise as they follow foolish ideas, and corrupt themselves more and more. And, as there are many today who also fit Christ’s description of the Pharisees in Matthew 23, in essence if not in form—hypocrites who wish to be seen as a source of leadership and hope—we see a society that is quickly being led astray, sick from top to bottom (Isaiah 1:5).

We live in a world full of distractions, and it is very easy to become confused, or led astray by wrong or fruitless pursuits that have no true “value” but which are marketed, packaged and sold as having great worth. Do you find yourself wondering about the things you value, or worrying about the future? Although the whole world has been deceived into following its own ways by a very real, lying spirit being (Revelation 12:9) there is a God in heaven who has made known a truly valuable way of life. The apostle Paul wrote of this when he admonished early Christians to “…not despise prophecy… hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:20-22). Three times in the Old Testament Moses similarly told the children of Israel what good thing they should truly hold fast and value: their Creator and His laws (Deuteronomy 10:20, 11:22, 13:4).

Scripture warns us that Satan is “the god of this age” and the author of false values (2 Corinthians 3:3-4). Even as we near the end of this troubled age, there will be a true church, holding fast to a set of true values (Revelation 2:13, 25; Revelation 3:3, 11), despite trial, persecution—and shifting social values. If you have received this truth, it can set you free (John 8:31-32). So, are your values true, or are you under the influence of fiction? Order your free copy of our powerful booklet, The Bible: Fact or Fiction? and learn how the source of true values can change your life forever.