Whe you squeeze a wet, dirty sponge what comes out? When you squeeze an orange what do you get?
In the squeezing process, what’s inside comes out. When you are squeezed, challenged, tested, and tried what comes out?

For most of us, myself included, it’s easier to be calm, reasonable, and detached when life is going pretty well. Throw a monkey wrench or two, some frustrating circumstances, and – to our way of thinking – unreasonable people, and less than our best comes pouring out. Character, integrity, and values cannot be relative or situational, despite our modern society’s behavior to the contrary.

Researchers looking for ubiquitous (existing everywhere; inescapable) virtues across time, cultures, and religions found six that appeared consistently all around the world:
-  Wisdom and knowledge
-  Courage
-  Love and humanity
-  Justice
-  Temperance
-  Spirituality and transcendence

These don’t just happen. They must be chosen, practiced, valued, and affirmed. It is an act of will to be a person of good character. We need to model strong character traits consistently to “own” them ourselves and to pass them onto our children. Family Night by the Book gives you biblical lessons on several character traits and adds targeted activities to reinforce the learning. The virtues and character strengths we value, and our response to difficulties are governed by choice and attitude.

“Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money,
than circumstances, than what people do or say. It is more important
than appearance, giftedness, or skill. The remarkable thing is, we have
a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.
We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people act
in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we
can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.”
– Charles Swindoll –

Our values are who we are. They are our highest principles and they determine the quality of our lives. When our actions match our values there is a sense of “rightness” and of being authentic. We are much less likely to be reactive when obstacles are thrown up in front of us. Take some time to think about your 5-10 highest values. What is most important to you? What values do you want to cultivate in your family? Where and how do your values show up in your life? Which ones get neglected? Which ones are you most likely to sell out on? How does your family talk about godly values? Can you back them up with scripture?

When we consistently behave in a way that is congruent with our values, life goes more smoothly. We have a solid filter for decision making and are more likely to get positive outcomes. Consider your list of values and the things you do to cultivate and honor them. If there is room for improvement ask yourself this question, “If I were living this value consistently, what would I be doing on a daily or regular basis?”  Commit to develop that discipline.