Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt

In the past two blogs about Core Values, I wrote about Vision, and I wrote about Servant Leadership and how pursuit of these core values draw you into and help align your life with the perfect will of God.  Today I want to write about the other three core values that that have helped me walk out my life with God with no regrets and overflowing thanksgiving and blessing!

The third core value God wanted me to pursue was prioritized balance. That was the anchor in God to help me keep the balance between home-life and family, and leadership and work.  Prioritized Balance taught me to lead first and foremost, at home. It meant I had to learn to be a husband that worked along side and with my wife in decision-making and responsibility. That could never happen effectively until my wife and kids felt loved and valued by me and not relegated to seconds after my work and ministry.  I’ve written numerous times about marriage and if you type marriage into the blog search bar, you’ll find more posts on this subject there. Like most men, I learned the hard way that putting work before your wife and children, erodes all of the quality of your life causing everything to suffer.

Early on in our marriage, we read the verse that illuminated the very reason God chose Abraham to become the father of the Jewish people. God chose Him because He knew that Abraham would teach his children and household to live in the ways of God and that he would cling to the promises God made to Him that would reach all future generations. Genesis 18:19. “For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” 

That was powerful to me to Renee and I. God chose Abraham because he’d train his household and loved ones in the Lord! That would result in great blessing for Abraham and his descendants. That’s why God chose Him! Wow! What a compliment and credit to Abraham from Almighty God Himself. That helped me know what direction I wanted to go in life. As my desires evolved through the Word of God, I knew that after God, my marriage and family would have to be the priorities I could not neglect! I knew that I wanted to be a great husband and father. I knew that I wanted to work hard and provide well for my family. And I had a deep and special desire to be a father that would help my children come to know Jesus and God’s Word from a young age—learning to live their life with Biblical life application. Renee and I lived this out as a team and wholeheartedly with our four children. Keeping that balance could not have happened without constantly seeking God’s help and grace. The tug on priorities is always present. And it may have been the most difficult challenge we ever had to pursue.

The forth core value God’s word revealed to me was to develop a steadfast work ethic.  Proverbs 10:4 “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.” My father modeled a strong work ethic and it was up to me to to seek God’s help and pursue it. This promise—diligent hands bring wealth,  motivated me greatly. Not for pursuing monetary riches, but the wealth of provision to serve my family, my church, and the work of God. Learning diligence, and faithfulness and loyalty were difficult but character building and strengthened my entire person—spirit, soul, and body! I now believe it’s one of my greatest strengths.

The fifth and last core value was learning trust and patience in God’s word doing it’s work and fulfilling the promise!  Proverbs 18:16 NKJV, says, “A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.” God shaped my heart to despise self-promotion and instead taught me to believe my character and the fruit of my efforts and His grace helping me in every step along the way, would speak for themselves and bring promotion—if I was deserving of it! Because of this, over the years, if I wasn’t promoted, I only pointed the finger at myself and blamed no one else. I’d only work harder and more diligently. I tried to never blame anyone else because these were more than just words to me. They were a covenant promise from God. If I worked the gifts and abilities God gave me, they would bring promotion. No man could hold back what God promised would be mine. It was my responsibility to work hard and receive His help and grace in every step. God would take care of the promotion!

As a young Christian, I was seeking God’s vision for our life. I didn’t know where He would take us. But I didn’t need to. I needed to know the core values what would align my life with His will, and place me in His perfect will.  The five core values I shared with you helped accomplish that. I didn’t know how He would use me, but I did know who I wanted to be. I had a vision for and wanted to be a great husband, the best father, a person God and others could count on, the person who took a genuine interest in the welfare of others, and a faithful and diligent worker. Those things were etched in my heart. They were clear so that I could run with them. They created the superhighway to run on. In the pursuit of my different endeavors through life, these core values were instrumental in shaping me and keeping me on my path through life.

Vision is critical to the success of what we pursue, but without being rooted in biblical core values, it’s too easy to chase the wrong things and head off course. My core values and godly desires helped me develop the character and provided the boundaries that not only kept me on His path, but that resulted in successes and promotions again and again. Today I pray that you’ll pray about these core values. I pray that you’ll learn them and let them lead you in God’s perfect will for your life.

1 Thessalonians 1:4 (MSG) “It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special.”

In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt

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