Live courageously from your heart!
I found myself in the squalor of my own ‘pig slop’ just as the prodigal son did. I had to stray far so I could begin to understand that the recklessness of my choice to have ‘my portion’ right now placed me in ruins. I had foolishly pursued many temporary things such as wealth, power, and success. With a present-tense gratification, without any care or concern about my future…my selfish nature wanted it now!
Check out this mission statement by a young African pastor found among his papers in Zimbabwe after he was martyred!
I’m a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of His and I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
What values do you want to pass on to your children? How well does your life reflect your core values?
Websters dictionary defines integrity as:
1. firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility
2. an unimpaired condition : soundness
3. the quality or state of being complete or undivided : completeness
Back in February I posted a blog post titled, “Who is your Samwise?”. During that time a group of seniors participating in a speech/creative writing class spent some time answering this question. I share those unedited responses with permission from their instructor.
“I don’t really have a Samwise. I have multiple friends that help me with different things. Some are very close; but some, not so much. I love my friends and need them to get through life, either to just have fun or to figure things out that I do not understand. I need people in my life, but friends make things so much better. We like being with each other. As the Beatles once said, ‘I get by with a little help from my friends.’” -Matt
Looking for my value, my self-worth, and my identity with position and success, I would always choose a safe retreat into my hiding place of counterfeit affirmation — selling my soul to my work. Receiving the glory of man through the recognition of another successful project; earning more money; advancing to that next, higher title on the corporate ladder, I continued to retreat from the pain and insecurities of my fractured life, protecting my empire as I chased my American dream with a blind devotion. The dream of this empire was something I wanted so badly that I failed to listen to that little voice inside trying to warn me that I was walking down a bad path. I would continue to perform on the world stage desperately trying to gain my identity. Ignoring the inner sadness slowly tightening around me, I didn’t realize that underneath this drive was a deep desire to just be accepted. I became a slave to my own empire, running without a purpose, and I didn’t even know it.
