Trying to explain my newfound clarity, my daughter named what I could not. “Ever since I determined my core values, I’ve found a sense of peace and security I never imagined. All from naming the values, I desire to live by,” I relayed as we sipped our morning coffee.

“In one of Madeleine L’Engle’s books, it talks about naming and the danger of un-naming,” my daughter explained.

 “I think you… call them fallen angels. War and hate are their business, and one of their chief weapons is un-Naming – making people not know who they are. If someone knows who he is, really knows, then he doesn’t need to hate. That’s why we still need Namers…” A Wind in the Door                    

My daughter explained, “She talked about namers and unnamers and the power they possess to create or destroy life. When a person is named, they find security in who they are. When they remain unnamed, security is lost, even to the point of being ‘unmade’—turned into nothing.”

“Because security and life go hand and hand, without security in who you are, you don’t just lose meaning, you lose everything. Thus, meaning and security are intertwined.” Continuing, “Expounding on Madeleine’s idea, we take it a step further—don’t wait for a namer to grant you security—create it by naming yourself and your values now.” 

Finishing her thought,

“Don’t wait for a namer in your life; become the namer in other people’s lives.” Rebekah Edmunds

By encouraging others in naming what is good, beautiful and true in them, we discover truth.

Able to connect the dots from my new sense of security to a brilliant author’s revelation, my daughter identified the power in this practice.

Identifying and naming—in this case—values, reveals both Kingdom and personal truths, empowering us with a settledness in decision-making in times of uncertainty. We eliminate fumbling with fundamental questions, securing a ground zero from which to build—or rebuild—our lives when we establish simple, bedrock truths by which we live.

This becomes a huge anxiety reducer. Because I found such surprising confidence by naming my core values, allow me to walk you through my process, propelling you towards the same clarity and purpose.

Vacillating for weeks, I made it harder than it was. Let’s look at the simple, straightforward steps I discovered. 

It only took me about 15-20 minutes once I committed:

• First, I found a list of core values and prayed for clarity.
• Writing down the values that struck me, I delineated roughly 10. 
• Next—a little research. Nothing fancy; I looked up definitions and synonyms on dictionary.com. Surprisingly, this eliminated a few.
• Moving to Scripture, I found a few verses either defining or discussing the values.
• Compiling everything, my top 3 values emerged. 
• Finally, I named the remaining 2 values accessory values. 

Surprisingly, my accessory values were originally the top 2! This simple practice helped me dive deeper, discovering more about what defines me as a daughter of the King—His unique creation designed for specific purposes. 

The freedom I’ve experienced has both confounded and elated me! Such a simple practice provided clarity and purpose. 

But truth is in the application. Recently, I made a few big decisions, and for the first time, I felt secure and confident.  Not necessarily that all would turn out well, but I made the wisest choice based upon who I am at my core.

So, what are they? My heart races at the prospect of telling you! Having named them, the peace, joy and security I experience is real. 

1. Faith – conviction, belief, truth, confidence, hope, loyalty, certainty, faithfulness
2. Love– patient, kind; not jealous, proud or rude; doesn’t demand its own way; isn’t irritable, keeps no record of wrong; saddened by injustice and rejoices in truth; never gives up, loses faith, always hopeful and endures every circumstance
3. Wisdom– pure, peaceful, reasonable, gentle, full of mercy and good fruit; unwavering, always sincere; foresight, judgment, poise, prudence, balance, discernment, stability

Accessory Values:

1. Integrity – humility, genuineness, honesty, purity, principle, sincerity, virtue, righteousness
2. Compassion – empathy, benevolence, tenderness, kindness, charity, grace, humanity, tenderheartedness

Your values will include other principles you esteem. Kindness, mercy and humility—important to me—are encompassed in love and wisdom.

Naming what is unnamed awards us a sense of clarity and vision—a springboard to clear decision-making and purposeful living.

Friend, take 15-20 minutes to name your values—and anything else unnamed—then tell me about it. I’m excited for the peace and freedom you’ll experience with each decision you make!

Meet back here to discern the important questions to answer when making decisions!