Establishing Your Values? Choose Wisely - Part 1

When I was a fourth grader, life on the farm presented significant problems. My mother had been sick with high blood pressure. Abundant rain ruined my father’s crops. I was thrown from a horse and broke my arm. My uncle who witnessed this event, took me to Dr. Collins, the only doctor in the community, who set my arm.

Discouragement will come to visit everyone. If permitted, discouragement can strengthen personal values by clarifying what’s important. Values reflect our personal identity and help us to stand firm when confronted with hardships. Discouragement can cause others to lose sight of what’s ultimately important and produce regrettable choices.

Discouragement for my dad resulted in a change that he believed would be good for the family. Galatians 6:9 offers encouragement. "And let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we do not get discouraged and give up." The issue is to trust God to meet your needs. 

Focus on Your Values - Part 3

Big city life is a marked contrast to the seemingly simple life I knew as a child. Don't get the wrong idea. Stress and worries always were associated with farming, but there were the exciting days. At harvest time in late summer and fall, neighbors and family helped each other gather in crops.

These were the days before big combine machines replaced those neighbors and friends. While the men worked in the fields, women prepared lunch. I begged to stay home from school, but my dad insisted that I go to school because there wasn't much I could do as a young child.

Although these people were far from perfect, their values bonded them together. It isn't that the big city lacks values, but in the confines of a fast-paced, hurried life, values may become blurred. God’s word from Luke 10:27 helps to clarify where values should be anchored. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.” Do these words identify where your values begin and end?