my good friend brian berry (also the youth pastor at my church) has been wrestling lately with time, balance, priorities and future. it’s a good wrestle (even though it may leave his hip out of the socket, as good wrestles can do). he and i chatted at some point of the importance of not only looking at to-do lists, opportunities and responsibilities, but starting from a place of values.

brian took a swing at this and developed a stunning summary of his values that blows me away. seriously, i got a bit choked up reading it the first time (and have read it several times since), because it’s so beautiful. i encouraged him to post it, as an example to others. he’s done that, with the title “who i want to be“.

brian came up with five core values, then created a short list of actionable clarifications under each one. his five core values are:

PLEASE GOD, NOT PEOPLE

TAKE CARE OF MY SOUL AND MY FAMILY BEFORE MY MINISTRY

BE A LEARNER

BE INTENTIONAL ABOUT MY DECISIONS

WORK HARD TO BE AND DO THE THINGS GOD HAS CALLED ME TO

i couldn’t more strongly encourage you to read it, and consider something similar for yourself. i think an exercise like this is so critical in our goal-obsessed american church culture.