How do we determine what has value and what doesn't?

Question

Sun Myung Moon · Accepted Answer

Every day, we make countless judgments about value — what is worth our time, our money, our devotion, and what is not. Without a reliable standard, value becomes whatever the strongest voice or the latest trend declares it to be. The Bible and the Divine Principle reveal that value is not a human invention but an objective reality rooted in God's purpose of creation; discovering that standard settles the deepest questions of human worth. The Biblical Foundation Scripture establishes that all value originates with the Creator. “The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof” (Psalm 24:1). Created things have value because God made them and declared them "very good" (Genesis 1:31). Human beings hold the highest value in creation because they alone bear God's image (Genesis 1:27) and are “crowned with glory and honour” (Psalm 8:5). As it is written in Genesis 1:28, “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” This command to have dominion further underscores humanity's unique standing and responsibility. The Bible also warns against false standards of value. Jesus asked, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). Material wealth, status, and achievement are exposed as insufficient measures: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth... but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20). Paul counted everything as loss "for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:8). The consistent biblical message is that value is determined by relationship to God's eternal purpose, not by temporal measures. Indeed, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33), affirming the priority of a divine relationship. The Divine Principle Perspective: Value Is Determined in Relationship The Divine Principle offers a precise framework: value is not an isolated property of a thing; it is determined within the relationship between a subject partner and an object partner. A work of art has value because a viewer appreciates its beauty; a meal has value because someone partakes of it. The object partner's value is realized when it stands before a subject partner who recognizes and responds to it. This raises the decisive question: what is the ultimate subject partner who gives all things their true value? If value is measured only by human beings, then it remains relative — shifting with culture, appetite, and power. But creation was made for God. When a subject partner is centered on God's purpose of creation, he or she seeks the values of truth, beauty, goodness, and love in the object partner, according to the functions of intellect, emotion, and will. Through that God-centered relationship, the object partner's original value — the value God invested in it at creation — is fully realized. This framework explains why human value is absolute: each person stands as an object partner to God Himself, the infinite subject of love. It also explains the true value of all creation: the natural world is not raw material to be exploited but the environment created to bring joy to God's children, receiving its fullest value when appreciated and cared for by people centered on God's purpose. Love Given, Beauty Returned Two kinds of value can be distinguished. Substantial value belongs to physical things and is measured against physical need; psychological value — the true, the beautiful, and the good — is measured by our intellect, emotion, and conscience. Neither is decided in the abstract; a knife is worth one thing in a surgeon's hand and something else entirely in a robber's, because value follows motivation and purpose. Within a God-centered relationship, the exchange has a direction. What the subject partner gives is love; what the object partner returns is beauty. That returned beauty takes a different name in each relationship: from a child to a parent it is filial piety, from a citizen to the nation it is loyalty, and between husband and wife it is fidelity — owed by the husband as fully as by the wife. “Honour thy father and thy mother” (Exodus 20:12) and “let the wife see that she reverence her husband” (Ephesians 5:33) name the same reality. Where love and beauty circulate freely, the four position foundation stands complete, and the value of everything within it becomes absolute, because God Himself is its center. The Standard of Original Value The original value of a person is determined by whether he or she can stand as an absolute object partner before God's absolute love. Gold has value because of its unchanging properties; a diamond because of its hardness and brilliance; but a human being's supreme value comes from the capacity to give and receive love w

How do we determine what has value and what doesn't?

The Biblical Foundation

The Divine Principle Perspective: Value Is Determined in Relationship

Love Given, Beauty Returned

The Standard of Original Value

Living the Principle

Sources and further reading