Schlaegel 1

Values

Faith – Family – Friends – Compassion – Excellence

As I held the stack of value flashcards in my hand, I pondered how I would approach the

identification process. I attempted to sort through the deck one item at a time, comparing each card in

order. This process proved to be both inefficient and fruitless. Clearing my desk, I spread the cards out to

view the group from a bird’s eye perspective. Within minutes, I had my top five selected with ease. Faith,

family, friends, compassion, and excellence – the words jumped out at me immediately. The prioritized

order developed almost organically.

By the power of Christ, God directly intervened and changed the course of my life. To adhere to

my faith in Christ is to live for something worth dying for. Such radical and delightful belief naturally

intrudes every aspect of life and reigns supreme over all other possible values. To prioritize faith is to

liberate self from the bondage of preservation and bask in the light of providence. Family and friends fall

into place right behind faith. Relationship-building serves as the mark of a true believer following the

example of Jesus. My purpose as a follower of Christ is to invest in people and proclaim the goodness of

the Gospel to neighbors and nations alike. To overlook the significance of interpersonal relationships is to

misunderstand the example and teachings of Christ. The prioritization of family and friends serves as the

tangible manifestation of my faith in God. Daily, the blessings that permeate my life remind me of the

debt I owe my family. Were it not for my mother, father, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, I

would not be who I am or where I am today. I owe my family my life. The same goes for my friends.

How could I have possibly survived adolescence without them? Strong friendships bound communities

together and serve as agents of peace. There’s nothing I desire more than to become a peacemaker in and

out of the home for the sake of the Gospel.

Compassion and excellence fall into a completely different category altogether. While

compassion and excellence also pour forth from my love of Christ, they serve as attitudes rather than

activators. The priorities of faith, family, and friends activate and motivate my actions. Compassion and

excellence, on the other hand, are best described as attributes of the Christ-like attitude I seek to exhibit.
 Schlaegel 2

Compassion, the genuine actionable care for others, essentially sets Christ apart. John 1 paints a picture of

the Lord expressing the ultimate act of compassion. God, out of His great love for us, became man and

made his dwelling among us, lived a perfect sinless life, and died on mankind’s behalf. Rising again,

Jesus conquered sin and death for our sake. Christ undeservedly took upon our sin and we undeservedly

took upon his righteousness. What greater compassionate love is there than this? And thus, I seek to

follow in his footsteps, compassionately laying down my life for others.

Prioritizing excellence is not a tell-tale sign of infectious perfectionism. Prioritizing excellence is

to dedicate myself to giving my all in all that I do. My faith deserves my all. My family deserves my all.

My friends deserve my all. Compassion is my all. To lose a heart for the hurt in others is to lose it all, to

fall short of excellence. Apathy directly opposes excellent execution. With this in mind, clarity of purpose

and dedication to my top values prove to be all the more pertinent in my prioritization and pursuit of

excellence.

My values interrelate and intertwine, transforming from a compartmentalized list into an

integrated lifestyle. My values for work and play are one and the same. Whether home or away, the

pursuit of faith, family, and friends as activators and motivators remains unchanged. An compassionate

and excellent approach stands unwavering. Perhaps my top five values are not five individual values at

all. Perhaps these values paint the picture of an example to follow. Perhaps this model is found in the

personhood of Jesus Christ for from him, through him, and to him are all things- my life included.