Where Your Treasure Is: What Jesus Says About Your Heart and What You Value
Most of us don’t think of ourselves as treasure-hunters, but we all have something we’re investing in. Jesus had something direct and important to say about that, and it cuts right to the heart of how we live.
What Does Matthew 6 Actually Say About Treasure?
In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus says this: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:19-21 That last line is the one worth sitting with. Jesus doesn’t say your treasure follows your heart. He says your heart follows your treasure. That’s a significant distinction.
Why the Heart Is the Real Issue
Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus keeps going deeper into the heart. In Matthew 5, He made it clear that the kind of righteousness God is looking for isn’t outside-in, driven by rules and performance. It’s inside-out. God is after a genuine heart change. That context matters when reading Matthew 6. Giving, praying, and fasting aren’t meant to become a new checklist. They’re meant to help align your heart with God’s. The real question behind all of it is: what do you truly value?
What Counts as “Treasure”?
Treasure isn’t just money. It can be success, comfort, security, family, reputation, experiences, achievements, or possessions. None of those things are wrong on their own. The issue is when any one of them takes the top spot in your life. We naturally organize our lives around what we consider most valuable. And whatever sits in that first place shapes everything else, including our hearts.
Why Earthly Treasure Always Falls Short
Jesus isn’t condemning work, savings, or planning. He’s reminding us that everything on earth is temporary. Markets fluctuate. Technology becomes obsolete. Homes wear out. Bodies age. Circumstances shift. The writer of Ecclesiastes put it plainly: “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired. I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Nothing was gained under the sun.” – Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 When he says “under the sun,” he means here on earth. The realization is simple but sobering: if everything you’re investing in is temporary, it will eventually feel empty. Think of building a sandcastle. You can put real effort into it, and for a while it looks great. But the tide is always coming. The point isn’t that building it is wrong. It’s that you already know it’s temporary while you’re doing it.
What Does It Mean to Store Up Treasure in Heaven?
Jesus isn’t talking about collecting reward points or earning a spot in heaven through good deeds. He’s inviting us into something better. He’s talking about investing our lives in things that carry eternal value. What lasts forever? Our relationship with God, and our relationships with people who are in relationship with God. Everything else is temporary.
Things with eternal value look like this:
- Loving people well
- Acts of mercy and generosity
- Faithfulness and forgiveness
- Serving others
- Sharing the gospel
- Worship and time with God
- Becoming more like Jesus through the Holy Spirit
These are treasures that death cannot touch.
How Your Treasure Shapes Your Heart
Paul writes in Colossians 3:1-4: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” – Colossians 3:1-4 Our hearts naturally follow what we consistently invest in. If you keep pouring your best energy into God’s kingdom, your heart moves toward God. If you keep pouring it into status, comfort, and possessions, your heart follows those things instead.
Proverbs says it this way:
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” – Proverbs 4:23
This is why Jesus spends so much of this sermon on the heart. When the heart is aligned with Him, that’s when we begin to experience the kind of life He has for us.
Treasure Always Leads to Worship
Whatever occupies first place in your heart becomes what you trust most, what you depend on, and ultimately what you worship. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. That kind of love requires that He holds first place, not second or third. When God is in that first spot, everything else gets better. Your relationship with Him directly affects your relationships with everyone else around you.
Life Application
This week, take an honest look at where your best attention, energy, and affection are actually going. Not where you think they should go, but where they actually go. That will tell you a lot about what you’re truly treasuring right now. Then make one intentional eternal investment this week. Encourage someone who needs it. Serve someone without being asked. Spend focused, unhurried time with God. Share your faith if the door opens. Do something that will outlast you. Your heart will follow your treasure. So choose carefully what you invest in.
Ask yourself these questions as you go into the week:
- What receives my best attention, energy, and affection right now?
- Is there something competing with God for first place in my life?
- What is one thing I can invest in this week that has eternal value?
- If someone watched how I spend my time and money, what would they say I treasure most?
Steve Lawes is a Church Consultant and also provides coaching for pastors, churches, ministries and church planters.
