Family Values

How to Promote What You Stand For?

The Marketing Campaign For Your Life – Part 4

How we plan to promote what and who we are?
What are your values?  Do you have a written set of values to refer to?  How will you explain to your children, your spouse, your friends, what you stand for?  Values are vital. They give you and your family the boundaries and limits in which you can operate.  Without values you will fall for anything and everything will get you off course.  

Knowing that we can’t live the successful life we choose without having values, we use our nolongercommon.com five growth areas to define our family’s values in more detail.  In other words, we have identified five key areas we wish to set boundaries, limits, and standards for our family.

The Thought or Concept:
Set and document your family’s values.
In order to set clear expectations for your family’s identity, you need to create a set of values.  What does your family stand for? Everyone can tell you what they don’t stand for or stand against when situations occur, but what standards have you documented that states here’s what we believe and value?  I’ve heard our local church pastor say that most churches are good at telling you what they are against, but very few say what they’re in favor of.  Today we want to help you begin the process of drafting your own list of family or individual values. 

The Practice:
If you take a look at our family plan, here are the values we’ve documented.

Our Family’s Motto.  Our family’s motto is this… “If not us, then who…”

We believe every family could use a motto.  This one gives us a reason to do what we do. 

For example, if we don’t pray for our friends, then who will?  If not us, then who?  

If we don’t support our family, then who will?  If not us, then who?  

If we don’t represent Jesus, then who will?  If not us, then who? 

You see “where family values are strong peer pressure is weak and where family values are weak, peer pressure is strong.”  

Our Family Values

• Growth Area 1 – Our Spirituality.  This section has to do with our church and our religious values.  Here are the values we do our best to live by and I hope they will stimulate your thinking in drafting your own.
  • Our church must teach from the Bible, holding it as the final authority.
  • Our church must demonstrate the characteristics as outlined in the Bible. If the things our church is doing doesn’t match what the Bible says we have an issue with the church.
  • Our beliefs are based solely on the Word of God and our purpose as given to us by God, Himself.
  • We believe that God is our source..
  • We have chosen to put God in first place.
  • We believe that we are The Church.
  • We are members of one active local church, but have many pastors – gifts from God.

• Growth Area 2- Our Life.  This section provides the values we hold for our home, education, and personal lives.
  Our home has been made “holy”, like no one else’s home because of the values we uphold.  Use these examples to create your own values for your life.
  • We use our home for what God instructs (i.e. Small Groups, Counseling, Platform Building, Family-house, etc.)
  • We make studying The Word and prayer our top priority.
  • We practice having a Biblical definition to all that we do. “Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word.” (Psalms 119:37 NLT)
  • We pay our bills using the principle of the miracle feeding of the five thousand.
  • We believe that we can be happy every day with no exceptions.
  • We focus on getting the right amount of sleep/rest daily. Not too much and not too little. Our bodies depend on this time to heal and to grow. God gives rest to those He loves.
  • We see everyone we encounter as they can be, not as they are. Focusing only on the good in people. Never seeing the bad.
  • We choose to speak life-filled words and not words of death.
  • We are determined to live by margin in every area of our lives. We have margin in…
    • Our finances
    • Our time together before going off to work each day.
    • Our activities
    • Our time
    • Our responsibilities
    • Our schedules

• Growth Area 3 – Our Interactions.  This section identifies the values we intend to keep during our recreation time.  When we’re working, we have committed ourselves to upholding these downtime values.
  • We plan to celebrate our anniversary with an annual retreat. Our retreat is designed to realign our committed relationship with each other.
  • We believe in our vows to each other which state before the fall of man – Adam – God created us to be one flesh. When Pamela looks in the mirror, it’s my image that she sees and when I look into the mirror it’s her image I see.
  • We believe that our relationship modeled before others should represent the marital relationship that God intended from the beginning.

• Growth Area 4 – Our Relationships.  This section highlights the values we hold for all other relationships that exist in our world.  Maybe you can use these to set a few values your family upholds for its important relationships.
  • We are obligated to pray for our friends and live by this motto: “if not us then who…”
  • Our children’s friends are our friends.
  • We are selective in the friendships we have.  We ask God to send us friends who can sharpen us for our purpose.
  • Our family may have issues, but they are ours and we make a 100% commitment to the relationship.
  • We believe we are responsible for training our children and using them as arrows in the hands of mighty warriors.

• Growth Area 5 – Our Work.  This section is last because it should be last, our work supports all the other areas, but we must set values in this area so that it has the right priority in light of the others.  Use these examples to make sure you have values set around how your family does its work.
  • We pray over our employers, coworkers, and those to whom we report.
  • We ask God to bless our places of employment.
  • We use our experiences to be model employees.
  • We take breaks from work so that our performance is maximized during our work hours.
  • We believe God’s desire is for us not to work until the age of 65 and then to retire.

Today is Friday!
We’ve just shared with your one of the key components to how our family markets itself.  With these values each person has something to fall back on within our 5 life growth areas.  These values have served as a foundation upon which we can all build lives worth promoting. Take a moment to create a few values for your family.  In the long run (years down the road) you’ll truly be glad you do.  

How about sharing one of your values with me below or via social media?  I’d like to see what you come up with. Until next Friday, share this message with as many of your friends as possible and thanks for visiting Kerry A. Clark & Co.

[su_note note_color="#FFFFFF" text_color="#000000"]The Family Plan Binder is available now!

Our team has worked very hard putting it together. We designed it to help you and your family move the needle forward in making your life your business. Find out more about the Family plan here.[/su_note]