What principles define how you live?
Life is not so simple as we would like it to be.
Simply living is not a complex process. Food, water shelter, and heat are the only true necessities in life. Spartan living is both achievable, and a worthy goal.
But life itself is complex. You can choose to live the “Spartan” lifestyle, taking only what you need and nothing more, but that is rarely the case. Humans pursue many things, including happiness, relationships, and wealth.
To define principles by which I live, I must first understand what I pursue. Firstly, a relationship with God. This defining light guides my path, setting in place the morals by which I lead my life. Secondly, a powerful relationship with my wife. A united front against anything that stands against our goals. And thirdly, a strong commitment to preparedness and discipline.
All of these things are interlaced, meshing my spiritual life with my physical and emotional health, as well as my personal finances. I share my life with both God and my wife, and therefore I must live in such a way that honors those relationships. Honesty, integrity, kindness, love, and humility are essential.
In the home, peace comes from both the quality of the relationship and the quality of environment. This requires me to be both disciplined and respectful, and to receive reciprocal behaviors. A clean house, orderly, with few distractions is necessary to this. The responsibility for this belongs to both man and woman, and time spent not working in jobs should first be committed to a healthy environment.
In my physical life, I acknowledge that my body is a temple of God. Thus, I should care for my body with the same integrity I would care for a temple, and I expect the same of my wife. Eating healthy food, engaging in physical activity, and upholding hygiene standards daily is necessary and good.
In the mind, the most difficult work is done. Here is the foundation of willpower, allowing you to choose the fulfilling path. A strong mind is trained to be strategic, to plan for the future, to face challenges, and to pursue both knowledge and wisdom. To read is to train the mind to learn, and to practice is to train the mind to understand and use what it has learned. This is the key to wisdom.
I believe that God has provided me with all that I have. This includes my money. And if the Lord provides me with money, it is my responsibility to use it wisely, investing it in the places it should go. This is reflected in my spending, my investing, and my saving. A disciplined wallet will grow in size, and thus allow for generous giving in line with the principles laid out for us in the Bible, which is to help the poor, the orphan, and the widow.
These are the principles by which I strive to live. I fail daily, but I pursue perfection. To live my life in this way will allow me to live well, and in dying, I hope to leave an example of kindness, integrity, and honor to both my children and their families, and a foundation of financial, spiritual, and relational peace to them.
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