VALUES

How will you journey?

Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV)“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”

Luke 6:45 (NLT)“A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”

Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your

life.”

ENCOUNTER

On your journey, there is one constant: you. All of us have to take ourselves with us as we go on our life journey. For better or worse, we must bring ourselves along.

Daniel Goleman defines authenticity:

“To be authentic is to be the same person to others as you are to yourself.”1

With what level of authenticity do you live your life? What parts of yourself are easy to share with others? Where are places of inconsistency in who you are with yourself, versus how you are with others?

ENGAGEMENT

1 Daniel Goleman, “The Focused Leader,” Harvard Business Review, December 2013, https://hbr.org/2013/12/the-focused-leader.

As we lead ourselves and live authentically, our behavior follows our beliefs. The core convictions we build our lives on are the identified values that are the foundation upon which we live.

Here are some of the core values that I, Tom De Vries, have identified in my own life:

Visionizing faith and prayer: trusting God for the growth and development of my life and ministry, relying on God’s power and direction to realize it

Leadership: living out God’s gifting in my life in positively influencing a group of God’s people to achieve God’s purposes for a specific group or organization for God’s glory

Priority of People: a commitment to value people, see their importance as God sees them, believe in them, and encourage them

Know-Be-Do: a process of life development, especially that we must know God and become like Christ before we can do ministry

Mentoring: having people in my life who influence, challenge, and teach me, being open to influence, coach, and mentor others

What five or six core values or convictions have you identified in your own life? Often values are connected to specific experiences in our lives. We can look back at how God has taught us through a particular event or encounter and find our values tied to life lessons.

Take time to write down your own core values and give a description of what they mean in your life. Share them together. Ask questions for clarification.

EXPERIENCE

My Life Values . . .1) 4)

2) 5)

3) 6)

A value isn’t a value until it is a behavior.

Where are places that your behavior supports your articulated values and convictions? Where are the places of disconnect?

EXPRESSION

1 John 2:3-6 (MSG)“Here’s how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments.

“If someone claims, ‘I know him well!’ but doesn’t keep his commandments, he’s obviously a liar. His life doesn’t match his words. But the one who keeps God’s word is the person in whom we see God’s mature love. This is the only way to be sure we’re in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.”

Credibility in leadership comes when what we say and what we do match up. Are you experiencing a credibility gap? Maybe you need to evaluate if your behavior is following your beliefs, just as maturity follows intimacy.

How can you take a step closer in intimacy with God so you can reflect your values in your life and leadership?

IMPACT

From this conversation, what do you need to do to ensure that your values are validated behaviors in your life?

J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership“Spiritual leadership requires superior spiritual power, which can never be generated by the self. There is no such thing as a self-made spiritual leader. A true leader influences others spiritually only because the Spirit works in and through him to a greater degree than in those he leads.”2

2 J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1994), 28.