My Values
Core Convictions
My primary value in life is to honor, love, and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ for who he is. If that is not the central thing about me, everything else I value will be meaningless. I want my love and passion for everyone/everything to flow from a deep knowledge of God’s love for me. All of the things I value and care about need to be rooted in the Gospel. If they are not, I am missing the entire purpose of my life.
1 John 4:19
We love because he first loved us.
Values
Genuineness: I love it when people are comfortable with who they are and can therefore be consistent, honest, and transparent. You can easily tell the difference between when somebody actually loves you and when they are just treating you kindly to get something in return.
Laughter: We often take ourselves too seriously. We were created to enjoy life with our creator. Laughter brings people together and can even be a means to intimacy. I desire to have a joyful spirit, even in the midst of difficult times.
Empathy: It is so important to be able to step into someone else’s shoes and see a situation from their perspective. This can be helpful in managing conflict and understanding pain. I feel, and others have told me, that I am gifted in this area. It is genuinely difficult for me to get angry with another person because I can usually see the situation from their perspective and why they may be acting the way they are acting. It is a beautiful thing to “rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Rom 12:15).
Humility: By no means am I claiming to have mastered this. In fact if I was, that would be proof that I indeed have not. Humility is a value I struggle to achieve, but aspire to nonetheless. Those who I look up to in ministry the most are those who serve not out of a need to be recognized, but out of a deep love for Jesus and the people they are serving. That is how I want to do ministry.
Stories: The power of storytelling is incredible. Jesus’ ministry on earth was done in large through parables. God gave each of us a unique story. It is beautiful to me that no person’s story will ever be exactly the same. There can be similarities which bring people together, but every single created person is unique and has something different to bring to the table. I love to tell stories, and I love to see how God can use my story to impact the kingdom.
Community: I strongly believe that the only way we can grow as Christians and as humans is through relationships. Yes, that is including our relationship with God, but God also created us to be relational with one another. It is un-biblical and unhealthy to live life alone. It is necessary to be involved in a community of people who love each other and point one another toward Jesus. I have been absolutely transformed by community and I value the people in my life more than anything else.
