To Equip & Encourage

Resources and articles to help you in your journey to becoming a better father, husband, and leader in your home, business, and community.

Why Core Values are Critical to Personal Identity and Purposeful Living (By Commander Barney Barnes)

apple core analogy character formation army core values honor courage loyalty respect integrity duty service barney barnes biblical core values biblical masculinity values building strong christian men christ centered leadership values christian character development christian core values christian core values duty honor service christian leadership character traits christian leadership values christian manhood principles christian men discipleship christian men leadership principles christian men leadership training christian values for men christian worldview values combat tested character christian manhood commander barnes core values for men developing godly character in men discipleship for christian men duty honor service christian duty honor service christian leadership faith based leadership values faith driven duty to god family church faith integrity leadership men holy spirit guidance for life values honor courage commitment christian life impact players men ministry integrity honor courage faith jesus servant leadership example philippians 2 living with biblical values men living with purpose and honor men of integrity leadership men’s ministry leadership development navy core values honor courage commitment faith purpose driven christian men seeds of character biblical values servant leadership christian men spiritual formation for men

“When people give you access to their values, know that you have entered the most sacred chambers of their hearts.” ---John Maxwell

Core values are the cardinal precepts or tenets held by organizations or individuals. They are a small set of essential maxims that serve to mold and guide individual or corporate conduct as they are identified with and followed. “Core” comes to us from the Latin root word cor which literally means “heart”. It is interesting to note that the words courage and coronary are derived from the same root word. It follows then that core values are not obtained by intellectual ascent and naval gazing, but rather are deeply held issues that reside in the heart.

Core values in fact do define our core…what we live for…what we love and cherish...what we will sacrifice for. They define not only what we ought to be, but what we can be and who we must become! They require no external justification, and they stand alone as intrinsic values to guide and silent sentinels to guard our thoughts, our words, and our actions through life’s storms and uncharted waters.

I am a curious person by nature, and I often invite individuals to share their core values with me. While that may sound a bit strange, I have found it to be a valuable relationship builder when done appropriately, as per John Maxwell. I often get a guarded response but then with a little prompting, some words like "honest" or "truthful" or "patriotic" will emerge. In my past professional capacity as Sheriff’s Office Chief of Staff, I made the final decision on hiring applications. Without fail, the subject of core values was always purposefully visited.

During one particular interview the applicant confidently gave me his core values, which included honor, courage, loyalty, and self-less service. I knew from his application that he was an army veteran and, from my study, recognized the values to be four of the army’s seven core values. The other three are: Respect, Integrity, and Duty. More importantly though, I was impressed with his familiarity, identity with, and comfort level with his core values. The applicant explained that these were not just idle words but powerful concepts that had “served me well in combat as well as a family man.” I offered him a position as a deputy sheriff on the spot!

Just after this interview I was thinking about core values and happened to be eating my daily apple, a very tasty Red Delicious. As I came to the core, I realized the core of that apple was more than the physical center. I sort of had an epiphany that the core really was the essence of the apple and that these few seeds had the potential to produce many apple trees…and thousands of apples. Our core values do contain the seeds that will produce fruit, either good fruit or bad fruit. Our choice of personal core values has profound and lasting consequences.

My core values, duty, honor and service, were formally adopted in 1984 from my Navy’s core values of Honor, Courage, Commitment. I have found them to be force multipliers with my Faith in Christ and have sustained me in many and varied battle arenas for over 40 years.

Duty, that act or service which is due or owed. A sense of personal allegiance to the obligatory tasks, service, and functions that arise from our positions in our families, in the work place, in the church, in our communities, and to each other…and our duty to God! For me, duty provides legs on which honor and service can run. Honor, the esteem due or paid to worth…such as honor God, parents, our flag, vows, contracts, traditions, relationships,…these all have value and worth. Service, acts or deeds rendered for the benefit of another. “Selfless service”, as we noted, is one of the army’s core values and it appears often in corporate listings, service clubs, and community enterprises. In the process of serving others, we advance the cause of fulfilling our purpose for living. In so doing, we follow the example of Jesus Christ who, being in the very nature of God, humbled himself and took on the very nature of a servant. His answer to duty’s call honored the desire of Father God and rendered the greatest act of service in all of history.

In our present culture, some may scoff at or even mock those who espouse core values such as honesty, faith, patriotism, love and respect for others. They may say such values are but sophistry---idle, weak and meaningless words. However, for the Christ follower, core values such as love, courage, integrity, and loyalty resonate deep within them. In that way core values serve to build our basic character; to govern and refine our personal and professional temperament; to sustain and refresh us when we grow weary; to guide us through the fog, the difficult challenges, and often unfamiliar passages of life itself. Finally, they serve to bond us with those “witnesses” who, in the past, established the heritage, traditions, and values that we now have embraced and passionately cherish.

If you cannot readily identify your set of core values, maybe 3 to 5, I would encourage you to prayerfully ask Holy Spirit for help in confirming them. They will help to sustain and strengthen you in your many battles ahead in 2026 and beyond. Websites are available and dedicated to assisting you in identifying your core values and I recommend you identify them and embrace them, your core values!

Looking for a starting point? What are the "Core Values" of an IMPACT Player? Begin here.

Join the Movement

If you’re ready to be part of what God is doing in the lives of men, we invite you to take the next step.

Visit impactplayers.org to:

Find or start an IMPACT Cohort in your community
Host a Men’s Breakfast and start an IMPACT Chapter
Partner with us to reach and raise up men across America

Written by Commander John "Barney" Barnes
Used with permission from Bravo Bravo Wisdom

To Equip & Encourage

Why Core Values are Critical to Personal Identity and Purposeful Living (By Commander Barney Barnes)

Join the Movement

Share this blog post using the buttons below.

Join a Cohort near you!