How would you say your life is going? Are you living the life you think you deserve? Are you financially stable? Are your children behaving the way you think they should? Are you achieving your written goals in life, or do you even have any? According to a survey conducted by the Barna Research Group
(BRG) a large percentage of Americans think their lives should be better, are facing financial challenges, have children out of control, and have no written directions for their life decisions, they just wake up every day drifting through the sea of life. So what principles guide your life? Our principles are the rudder that steers our ship and keep us on course. So you may ask, how can I improve my quality of life? And for some of us, how can we change our view of what a quality life looks like?
Thousands of years ago a man lived who was acclaimed by the world to be the richest, wisest, and most powerful man. He wrote down a collection of words, practical insights for every area of your life. They are called Proverbs and can be found right in the middle of the bible. Some people don’t understand the proverbs because they require some thoughtful interpretation. These wise words, if followed, will give you the quality of life you desire.
As Christians, we should be very familiar with the proverbs and they should be guiding us in our daily lives. What surprised me most is that in terms of life values, lifestyles, and attitudes, Christians and non-Christians were essentially the same in response to this survey. Here are some of the results from the survey of how the American lifestyles coincide with the Seven Proverb Principles.
Perceived and desired quality of life- the question “For as hard as you work you deserve a better quality of life”, 33% or one out of 3 feel they have been shortchanged when it comes to quality of life.
Financial Wisdom- the question “Assuming your family received no income for the next six months, your family has enough money saved to maintain its current standard of living”, fewer than three out of ten families have enough money set aside to continue their current standard of living for the next six months.
Setting Clearly defined Goals- the questions “You have written down clearly defined goals for your life, and these goals guide your day-to-day decisions and activities”, only 31% of Americans have written goals they use to guide their day to day decisions and activities.
Sexual Purity- the question “You have had a sexual experience of any kind with someone other than the person you are married to”, one-third of respondents said admitted they had
Wisdom in Child-Rearing-the question “Your parents taught you the skills necessary to succeed in life”, nearly two-thirds of Americans contend that their parents equipped them with the skills necessary to succeed in life,
Taming the Tongue- the question “You often say things to people that you later regret”, according to self-report, a minority of Americans only 18% admit they often say things they later regret.
Controlling Anger- the question “There have been times when your anger has had a negative effect on a relationship, your job, or something else important to you” 30% of Americans have admitted their anger has had an adverse impact on something that they value such as a job or a relationship.
So whether you are a self-proclaimed Christian or not, you may need to return to the Wisdom of Solomon and etch these words of wisdom on your heart and in your mind. I challenge you, for the next 6 months, read one chapter of proverbs every day. I like to use the calendar date; for example, if it is the third of the month, I read chapter three. I pray the more you read and study the proverbs, the more insight you will gain to direct and improve the quality of your life.
If you want to fast track some of the most important secrets to extraordinary success, I might suggest you read, The Solomon Secrets by Robert Jeffress. He looks at some of the key principles to help get you started.
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