Philippians 1:20 (NASB) According to my earnest expectation and hope, that I shall not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ shall even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. 23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; 24 yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. 25 And convinced of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith,The specific key to the lesson was looking at how Paul's values lead to him ultimately accomplishing his goals. Paul desired greatly to go to heaven. This was where he would be free from the pains of life and be with His savior. Paul also desired to grow, and to minister, be it at Philippi or anywhere else God sent Him. His overall driving value was to share the gospel and be the best witness and servant he could be for Christ. His values lead him to see that for a bit longer it was better for him to stay on earth and minister then to yearn for the more self serving option of heaven. One of the tools I used in this lesson was a book on value based leadership, and how vital it was to have unity between your values and what you do to achieve success. It makes simple sense, but many times we miss that lesson. Specially the book discussed that we have two kinds of values - terminal values (big large term goals that we work toward - basically the result we are working toward) - freedom, equality, self respect, secure family, stable home life, good marriage, quality friendships, blessed ministries, etc. The second type of values are instrumental values - these are the ones that we live daily to accomplish the terminal values. These would be like - open communication, honesty, dependability, trustworthiness, self control, independence, etc. Two things must occur for our terminal values to work out though. First your terminal values / goals have to be in line with your instrumental values. If the two do not match then you will never achieve your long term goals. The second key is to be around people, organizations, or groups that help you develop, maintain and achieve your values. Basically, the key to a successful value based life is following our core values daily while working, and living, around institutions, groups and individuals that share our same values and goals. Again this is all obvious, but many times do we wind up saying that we can't believe that we have this trouble or that problem when it all starts with our own personal value choices and/or the value choices of those that are around us. Just because it is obvious does not mean that we will pay attention to it. I know that we can not all work with and for Christians. If Christians work for lost people, like I do, then they can find a place within the organization where they can at least be left alone by people that disagree with Christian values. Even if you work with people that do not share your values you can choose to spend your free time around people that do where you will be encouraged and supported in your labors. There is nothing complex here, and sure it is tough to surround ourselves with people with the same values, but nothing worth doing is easy. It is amazing to me how many times we simply do not even consider our daily actions and our surroundings when we complain about our life failures and frustrations. Not sure if this note has been helpful or not, but basically I just want you to share a lesson that God really used in my local ministry. Hopefully it will help you look at your terminal values (big or long term goals / values) and then be sure your daily values and actions are working to achieve them. When I taught this series I even made a little chart and listed what I wanted to achieve and what I was doing achieve them. Maybe doing something like that could help you out as well. Remember that all the big things that you are working toward do not have to be ten or twenty year plans, we can set up short term terminal values as well - maybe be a bit more compassionate to co-workers, or more understanding of people struggling with addictions. Long and short God wants, and desires, to see you succeed at the things that He calls you too. I hope that this note may give you a tool to help achieve that via goal planning and organization. Stay strong, be courageous, and serve God in all things.
