It has been a long time since I last wrote. I have often intended to, but never took the time to just write. There have been many things on my mind that I have really wanted to write about, but maybe the most pressing is on the thought of value.
In an economically challenged world, value has become hugely important. Our lives have become inundated with practicality and productivity. No longer do we take the time to live, laugh, and love. Value is given to everything, and unfortunately value drives our visions and goals. Our time and more often our sanity is sacrificed doing things that we believe bring value to our lives in hope that we will achieve some level of worth that will make us satisfied with our lives.
One of the biggest questions of Jesus was, "What profit (value) does a man have if he gains the whole world, but loses his own soul?" [Paraphrase] Something we all need to consider is the value we give to our lives. As I work with teens, I am constantly confronted about the changing values the younger generation has placed on life and its various parts. While I grew up in the time period of "yuppies" and "Reganomics," many of the ideologies that have surfaced in today's culture seem foreign to me.
If you have read my blog, then you would have noticed that I posted papers that my students wrote on the topic of "success." The overwhelming theme most of them spoke to in their definition of success was self-interests. While I grew up in a time period of materialism, these young adults have grown up under the influences of entitlement. In their definitions, success was always linked to living up to your own personal standards. Under this type of thinking, you define values of life, relationships, and success. The problem with this thinking is that we often set sub-standard values in order to feel good about ourselves.
In living a successful life we must consider what the Creator of life intended for us. Though most search for value strictly through personal happiness, God gives value to lives through some of the most counterintuitive ways. For instance, Job's success was predicated on personal tragedy and loss. In the first century A.D., it would be hard to deny the apostle Paul as success in his personal pursuit of the ideal life of a devoted follower of Christ. Success in Paul's life came through shipwrecks, imprisonments, beatings, floggings, stoning, and ended with a beheading.
So, how do you value life? Would your definition of success be driven by self-interests or the truth of the Creator's purpose for your life? Just something to consider.
If you have read my blog, then you would have noticed that I posted papers that my students wrote on the topic of "success." The overwhelming theme most of them spoke to in their definition of success was self-interests. While I grew up in a time period of materialism, these young adults have grown up under the influences of entitlement. In their definitions, success was always linked to living up to your own personal standards. Under this type of thinking, you define values of life, relationships, and success. The problem with this thinking is that we often set sub-standard values in order to feel good about ourselves.
In living a successful life we must consider what the Creator of life intended for us. Though most search for value strictly through personal happiness, God gives value to lives through some of the most counterintuitive ways. For instance, Job's success was predicated on personal tragedy and loss. In the first century A.D., it would be hard to deny the apostle Paul as success in his personal pursuit of the ideal life of a devoted follower of Christ. Success in Paul's life came through shipwrecks, imprisonments, beatings, floggings, stoning, and ended with a beheading.
So, how do you value life? Would your definition of success be driven by self-interests or the truth of the Creator's purpose for your life? Just something to consider.
Comments
Post a Comment