Endure: Don't Give In or Give Up - Part 2

Endurance is, in truth, a test of values, especially where competing values cause conflict. A book called Values and Teaching, identifies most people as believing in prolonging life. However, place that ideal in a situation where someone is suffering from unbearable pain, caused by an incurable disease, and wishes to die…

Thank God most of us do not face that choice, but other situations where values collide make choosing unpleasant. You appreciate rules for driving safely, and although you need to be on time for work, you're late. You cherish being a patient, kind person, but someone is using you to their advantage. Your integrity depends on choosing your actions wisely.

A man explained he had a chance to reconcile with his ex-wife. He wanted to do right by his family and please God, but lack of trust blocked the pathway. God’s word teaches you to “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding, and he will guide your path." This is God’s choice for all believers. 

Values: Boundary Markers for Living - Part 1

Ernest Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature yet found it difficult at times to write a significant beginning sentence that portrayed a truth. While Hemingway is considered to have been a true American literary genius, his value system brought him intense pain and suffering which resulted in his eventual suicide.

Hemingway continuously sought to prove himself through his famous African safaris, his drinking ability, sportsmanship, and exploits with women, but discovered that permanent peace did not exist for him. A Quaker proverb addresses caring for and loving yourself. "It is true that each person has integrity that can be damaged and diminished by choices that person makes."

Your integrity is intricately connected to your value system, so your values either strengthen or weaken your integrity. Jesus posited a blueprint for guarding your integrity. "Love the Lord God with your whole being and your neighbor as yourself." "Do to others as you would have them do to you" is a choice God will bless while strengthening your integrity.