Pay Attention to Your Core Values, Part 2

Scripture — Galatians 5:22-23 (NRSV)

. . .  the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Devotion

In yesterday’s Life for Leaders devotion, I suggested that if you want to receive, clarify, craft, and live your purpose in life, you should pay attention to your core values. Your core values are the things you care about most of all. They are commitments and principles that guide your life. Yesterday, I pointed to the example of the Apostle Paul, who valued frankness and openness, and who communicated frankly and openly to a surprising extent.

As you may recall, in yesterday’s devotion I cited the example of the graduation of my son-in-law. The educators who spoke and the up-and-coming educators who graduated all upheld the core value of service. They are deeply committed to serving children, including and especially those who lack the advantages given to many of us. The core value of service shapes the purpose of those who were featured in the graduation ceremony.

I mentioned that you don’t have to go into education in order to serve people well. I noted that you can serve people in a variety of endeavors, including business, arts, government, church, social service, and so forth. Today I’d like to add something to that list . . . retirement. If one of your core values is service to others, you can and should do this even and especially when you are no longer doing paid work. In fact, I’d say that serving others ought to be a core value of retired people, both for the good of others and for their own good.

I recognize that the common cultural narrative of retirement emphasizes recreation and relaxation, not doing for others. Those who retire can, we are told, finally put themselves first in life. Many do this very thing, of course. But those who retire and who have a core value of service to others will not spend all of their time beyond paid work focusing on themselves and their own flourishing. Rather, they will devote a good bit of their time, energy, and love to serving others in a variety of ways. Some will volunteer in schools. Others will visit shut-ins. Some will start businesses that serve the common good. Others will mentor younger people. Many will serve by caring for their ailing parents and spouses, or their energetic grandchildren. The possibilities are endless.

I have been following a fascinating “debate” concerning the motto of Sun City, Arizona, one of the country’s oldest and largest retirement communities. Apparently, in the early days of the city, its motto was “City of Volunteers.” Yet in recent times, the original motto was replaced by “The Original Fun City.” Now, it seems that the two mottos are co-existing, with some arguing for a return to “City of Volunteers” and others wanting to hang onto “The Original Fun City.” A striking debate about the centrality of service in retirement!

The Rev. Chris Holck faced a related challenge as pastor of a church in The Villages of Florida, the world’s largest retirement community with over 150,000 residents. Older adults move to The Villages because of its extraordinary opportunities for recreation, learning, hobbies, entertainment, and relationships, not to mention its warm weather and pleasant environment. Chris looked for a way to get folks who came to The Villages to play to discover the benefits of serving others as well. In his book, Play Hard! Pray Hard! Finish Well!, Chris describes how Live Oaks Community Church invites residents of The Villages to serve by participating in Operation Christmas Child. Working together, they prepare boxes of Christmas presents for children who would otherwise receive nothing for Christmas. So far, the church has produced well over 100,000 Christmas boxes, all through the service of residents of The Villages. In his book, Chris explains that the residents “are prioritizing their playtime and living out lives on their terms. But somewhere between pickleball, completing their daily Sudoku or Wordle brain challenge, and a brisk walk, I have found that they are more than willing to give time to serve others.” (See Play Hard!, page 28).

You can’t find a specific list of “Christian core values” in Scripture. But in the list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 we learn that as the Spirit of God dwells within us, we will increasingly produce the “fruit” of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” You and I wouldn’t go wrong if we were to make this list of fruit our core values in life. It’s true, by the way, that service does not appear on this list. But serving others comes as we put into practice the values of love, patience, kindness, generosity, and gentleness.

We will discern and live our purpose in life when we pay attention to our core values. We can express these values in the context of our daily work, but also in what we do outside of paid work. This means that our core values can and should shape our purpose in life in all seasons of life, including retirement. Yes, when we no longer work full-time, we have greater opportunities to rest and play. But we also have more time to serve others. As we do, we will make a difference in their lives and, research shows, in our lives as well.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Life in the Spirit (Galatians 5:13–23).