I hear it quite often, “Brother Neville, I’m just not accomplishing what I feel like I ought to be accomplishing,” or the corollary, “Brother Neville, I’m just not feeling like I’m where I’m supposed to be in life by now.” Well, if you are struggling to be as successful as you would like to be, there is a great chance that a discrepancy exists between your goals and your values. If a mismatch exists, something must give.

As a quick review, a value or ethic is a principle or standard about what is important in one’s life. Therefore, Christian values are the principles of life that Jesus taught. Importantly, Christian values do not change over time. They are consistent from generation to generation since their foundation is found in God’s Word, the Bible.

If you are forever coming up short when it comes to achieving your dreams, your values might be at odds with your goals. But, you might have only a vague sense of what your values are, especially since the values of a Christian are often in opposition to those of the secular world.

The values Jesus Christ taught in the New Testament can be summed up in two thoughts—love God and love others. Here is a sampling of values that are presented in the Word of God:

• Generosity – The core Christian value of being kind and unselfish.

“The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.” – Proverbs 22:9

• Courage– Characterized by boldness and confidence. It is the opposite of fear.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9

• Love – The fundamental characteristic of God and the value that should describe us as well.

“We love because he first loved us.” – 1 John 4:19

• Respect – A Christian value is to be conscious that God has created all people in His image. As a response, we show respect to all.

“Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.” – 1 Peter 2:17

• Hope – The value of hope is confident expectation. It is a firm assurance in God.

“There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.” – Proverbs 23:18

• Peace – There are many aspects of this Christian value mentioned in the Bible. It refers to rest and tranquility and ultimately, peace is a gift from God.

“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” – Romans 14:19

Use these techniques to set goals that support your values:

1. List your current values. Have you ever taken the time to examine your values? Most people have never given their values a second thought. This is a shame because a person’s values guide their thinking, decisions, and actions.
   • Take 30 minutes and list your values in order of their priority to you.
   • Ask yourself if your behavior is aligned with your values. If there is a mismatch, what set of values would represent your behavior?
   • Most of us have an idealized impression of ourselves – so be honest.
2. What are you trying to accomplish? What are your goals in life? What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to be wealthy? Get six-pack abs? Write a screenplay? Save the whales? Build a real estate empire?

The first step to any great success is to identify your objectives.

3. How do your current values impact your goals? If your values and goals do not match, the odds of success are low without something changing. For example:

• If you believe that wealthy people are fundamentally bad, you will never accumulate a significant amount of wealth.
• If comfort is a high priority for you, those six-pack abs will never materialize.
• If you value having a lot of leisure time, a goal that requires a lot of work is not going to happen.

Look at your goals and look at your values. Do your goals support those values? Do your values support your goals?

4. What would be the perfect set of values to support your goals? Imagine you could build a person from scratch that would be perfect for accomplishing your goals. What values and qualities would they possess? How would you be different if you had these values?

• Think about the people you know that have accomplished what you want to accomplish. How would you describe them?

5. How close can you come to matching those values? How well can you rearrange your values to match that ideal set of values? The closer you can come, the greater the odds of your success.

6. Reinforce the values that matter. Imagine that your goal is to save $20,000 for a down payment on a home. Let us suppose that you have determined that you need to be someone that values saving money over spending. How can you build this value in yourself and make it a part of you?

• Prove to yourself that you are that type of person: For example, pick up pennies you find on the ground and save them. Cut coupons. Find new ways of dealing with stress other than shopping. Save part of your income as soon as your paycheck hits your bank account.

When you keep proving to yourself repeatedly that you possess a value, those actions will build and reinforce that value.

Conclusion

Are your goals and values a good match? It’s important that they are. When a mismatch exists, you have a choice to make: either alter your values or your goals. The world will tell you to alter your values. However Christian values are timeless. There’s only so much resistance a person can overcome. Success is much easier when your values and your intentions are highly compatible.

Be blessed today, my friends! And remember, God loves you and so do I.

Bro. Neville