My Values

Values that have shaped my life – and hopefully guide me going forward.

I created this list back in 2017, as I thought about my personal mission statement. 

Be intentional:  I want my life to be shaped by God’s word. As I thought about these values I could not think of a specific verse where God tells us to be intentional. But, the Bible is full of imperatives and not just all of the specific commandments in the Old Testament. For example “rejoice in the lord” “sing to the lord” “pray without ceasing” I think God expects us to be actors, creators, and doers. Not lumps of clay, or leaves blown by the wind. He calls us to be His people, to love and serve him, to be a light to the world. In my reading last year I was struck by the number of times Paul tells us to be worthy of belonging to Christ.  Certainly we are recipients of God’s mercy and saved by faith. But we should be active and go demonstrate that truth in our lives. 

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Ephesians 4:1

Be humble:  It may seem a bit odd to talk about having intention to be humble. I mean should we really work on a goal of being humble? Would we try to measure and boast about our success?  Our culture certainly does not encourage us to be humble. It seems like only the strong survive and if you do not tell every one of your accomplishments then you are a fool. 

I truly believe that the source of our humility is the fact that we are saved by grace entirely because of God’s mercy.  Who we are is not based primarily on who we have made ourselves to be, but what God has done for us.  So, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. Romans 12:3

 On a day by day basis, if we remember that, and that God is the source of all good things then we can live with a great level of confidence and still be humble. Instead of focusing on what we have done, let us focus on what God has done for us. Then we can “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”  James 4:10

Be grateful: If we believe (and I certainly do) “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father. ..” James 1:17 and that we receive these gifts out of His kindness and not by earning them we should be grateful. First we should give thanks to God for who he is and what he has done. But, we should be thankful to and for the people who are a blessing to us. There are all kind of saying about grateful people being happy instead of happy people being thankful. So make an effort today to thank the people in your life. By blessing others, you will be blessed.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 136:1

Be excellent: I always tell my kids before one of their games like soccer, softball, or basketball to try their best and have fun. I want them to do well and win but those are not the most important things.  And I think this is probably good advice to any one as they go about their day. Excellence should not be confused with perfectionism. Very rarely is anything perfect but we should not stop striving to be our best. I think we should always aspire to be better but also understand that we may not win and be okay with that. I have even said that we should learn to live with our failures. But if we tried our best and had fun it’s okay. The last thing I tell my kids before the game starts is that I love them. I know that God would say the same thing.  

 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, Colossians 3:23

Be content:  I often say that the key to happiness is to lower your expectations. My brother hates that because he thinks it is license to not strive for excellence. But it is my experience that people often have unrealistic expectations and are not happy with the outcomes.   The idea of being content is not about license to not try your best but it is license to forgive others and yourself.

All too often we expect a certain outcome because we think that we are entitled. But instead of living a life of entitlements we live a life of gratitude for the grace granted to us, we would experience a greater sense of freedom.

While I continue to strive, I know that it will not be my effort or because of who I am by myself that will give me peace and contentment. All my efforts of finding joy, meaning, or contentment without Christ is the chasing after the wind.

It is not so much of who I am but rather whose I am. I can know contentment because, I am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

Be Kind: 

I add this in July 2019, as I had reflected on my stated values and decided that they were to inward, and did not reflect on how I think we should treat people or more importantly how I wanted people to answer how I had treated people.  Part of being kind is that you really don’t know what people are dealing with – there may very well be a reason for their actions that should invoke some kind of compassion on our part.  So, giving them the benefit of the doubt is a way to love them.  Part of being kind is empathy or how I would want people to treat me.  It may very well summarize my attitude about the golden rule of “do unto other as you would like them do to you”

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 2 Timothy 2:24

Be wholly:  I have always understood that the word holy has been used in two different ways in the Bible. The first is “to be set apart” as in take your shoes off you are standing on holy ground or I have made you a holy people. (Deut. 7:6) God calls us to be his people, set apart for himself. 

I believe He has called me to be His. 

The second is the more traditional meaning of being blameless or pure. God also calls us to be blameless and pure. We can’t do it on our own but he provides a way through Christ. 

I can’t think of a better way to say what this means in a very practical way other than “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Phil 4:8) I know that I am not very good at any of this, but I keep trying. 

But the word wholly means neither of those things. but means “completely.”  So let us be wholly holy holy. Let’s us be completely set apart by God to be blameless – to be His to be true, . . and praiseworthy.   But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. 1 Peter 1:15

Belong: The last of my “be” words and the most important for me is belong.  I have often thought about the connection between love and belonging or ownership.  I love my wife because she is mine. “I am my love’s, my beloved is mine”.

I love my kids because they are mine.  I am sure that every parent loves their children, not because of some attribute or characteristic of the child, but because they simply are theirs.

For me the sense of belonging is the biggest part of how I would define who I am. Who I am is based on whose I am.

In his book, The Passion of Christ, John Piper says, “The ultimate question is not who you are but whose you are.”

My answer to that question gives me both a sense of meaning or purpose and comfort. I am not my own, but belong. . .to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.