Today is the first day of our two calm weeks. For the next two weeks the devotional is going to be shorter, more reflective and practice based. The idea is to add another healthy spiritual practice to our rhythms of life.
This week you are going to be putting together our values. This practice of creating values, regularly revisiting them and talking about them in our homes will bring together a lot of the ideas we have discussed in this series.
We've previously done this as a workshop at church, so perhaps you have already put these together. If you have, I'd encourage you to dust them off, revisit them and walk through this process with us.
For today, let's just think about why this is important. The sad reality is many of us kinda wander through life putting out fires or just going from one thing to the next with no real sense of purpose or clarity of vision. Defining our values helps us in three very important ways:
- Determine Directions
- Set Standards
- Clarify Decisions
I once heard Andy Stanley say, "Everyone gets somewhere, only some people get there on purpose." Part of the solution he says is to "begin with the end in mind." Imagine where you want to be in 1, 5, 10, 20 years, then create a plan to get there. More importantly, I think we should ask, "What type of person do you want to be 1, 5, 10, 20 years from now?" Your values should be the road map, of sorts, to get you there.
When we look back at the last 1, 5, 10, 20 years (I promise that is the last time I'll do that) how do we know if we are successful? There are many external standards to determine success in the various areas of our life (work, family, church, etc). Those external standards, however, fall short if we have betrayed our values to achieve them. That is why we must focus on who we become, not just what we accomplish.
As an example, I can achieve success at work by working my way up to becoming a leader in my company. However, if I've done so by cheating others, burning bridges with coworkers, trampling over former bosses, etc., I have betrayed my value of integrity and have ultimately failed to become the person God wants me to be.
We are all bombarded with choices and options daily. Yet, we have limited time, resources and capacities. Your values will help you clarify what you should say yes to (maybe the dress!) and what you should say no to.
Tomorrow we will take a look at a couple of examples.
Ephesians 5:15–17 15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Reflection
Do you feel good about the way you've been using your limited, time, resources and physical or mental capacities? Do you feel like you've been living according to your values? Do you have an idea of what those values are?