My personal values are those things that are the most important and meaningful in my life: my belief in God and my devotion to and appreciation of my family. Those are my priorities and my highest motivations. These personal values are important to me because they shape my behavior, help to guide me through life’s journeys, and support my faith. My value system is based on my belief in God and shaped by my experiences with my family and other relationships with people who have been in my life. Values are developed early in life and the basic core values do not change.
We may modify how much we value certain things and we may modify how we apply our value system to our lives but the basic values are who we are. There is always room to build on your values and that’s what I am striving to do with my belief in God I aspire to build my relationship with Him and to become more knowledgeable of Him. In order to do that, I will follow 2 Peter 1:5-8 to guide me through my journey. In 2 Peter 1:5 he says, “And beside this, giving all diligence add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge. ” God has given me the faith, now I need to build on that.
I strive everyday to be diligent in my devotion to God and to add virtue and knowledge to my faith. The people that I come into contact with during my life help me to do that. My pastor has helped me to become more diligent in my faith by preaching and teaching me the right way to be virtuous in my faith. He has helped me to better understand that with God in my life anything is possible. I have relied on his faith when I found my own failing me at times. Through his guidance, I have found a better understanding to some situations that I could not make sense of on my own.
He also has helped me to grow in my faith and not to become “stuck” spiritually. He has shown me how to have discipline in my faith, and the life of Christ that is in me gives me the motivation and power to change and grow spiritually. My pastor told me that God graciously gave me the key to the unfathomable riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8), which supplies me with everything I need for life and godliness (Christlikeness). His point was that I could not grow as a Christian until I trusted and accepted my faith as my essential foundation for growing and expanding upon my path to godliness (Christlikeness).
My pastor explained to me that these verses are just stepping stones along my path. Each step is not to be perfected to take the next step they are all interrelated and build upon each other. My motivation should be God’s grace and the right motivation in Christian life is essential. In 2 Peter 1:6 he says, “And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience and to patience godliness’. So now I am working on my faith and with my pastor’s help my knowledge of my faith, now the next thing is temperance (self-control).
This is a hard one for me,because I know that I need to be motivated to do certain things in my life. For example, going to the gym, I know that going to the gym will help me to become healthier, but there are some days when I just do not feel like going. This is where I have to exercise my self-control (motivation). This is the same thing that I encounter if I find myself in a discussion with someone who doesn’t believe in God. I know that everyone has a right to his or her own opinion and no one person is right or wrong.
This also helps me to practice my patience, because I can not understand why someone who lives in the world we live in and sees all the wonderful things that are around us does not believe that God truly exists. A God that offers complete forgiveness of sins and eternal life. That makes no sense to me, but then I think about 2 Cor. 4:4, and I understand why they cannot see. I can see these things because, I believe and I have faith; the nonbeliever does not. My perseverance is strong and this is just another step in my journey to Godliness.
In 2 Peter 1:7-8 he says, “And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”, Godliness to me means being aware of God in every aspect of my life, and to show him reverence. No matter the situation that comes along or what I may find myself in, whether it is dealing with an unruly child, an angry coworker, or a disgruntled parent – I always try to be the best me I know how to be.
I do not let my temper get the best of me. I treat others as I would want to be treated, and I apply self-control to the situation. In my career and in my life I choose to show kindness instead of discouragement or rudeness. This verse says to add brotherly love to my foundation. To me brotherly love is not just about blood family, it is a mutual understanding and caring for human beings that should extend to everyone. We must “do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith (Gal. 6:10)”. I need to work on this.
I need to learn to go against my feelings of pride, laziness, or self-centeredness, and to demonstrate my love for others. My pastor told me that I could practice this at church by looking for others who may be new or alone and to make them feel welcome. Being a deacon at my church, which will help me to practice this hospitable skill. The verses that I have taken on as part of my personal value system begins with the foundation of faith and builds with diligence, virtue, knowledge, self-control (temperance), patience (perseverance), godliness (Christlikeness), brotherly kindness, and ends with charity (love) (Gal 5:6).
With all of this growing in these godly characteristic qualities I will be useful and fruitful in knowing Jesus Christ. In order for me to continue to be useful and fruitful in my efforts I need to continue to grow in godliness (Christlikeness) which will require me to be self-disciplined and diligent with my efforts. I need to continue to grow spiritually, it is a long process, but with my belief in God and with my family and support system in place IK will continue to make progress. I will consistently and continually practice my belief and faith in God and stay devoted to my family.
