I found this article written by Scott Farrell recently.

Essential elements of today’s code of chivalry

There was no such thing as a “uniform” code of chivalry in the Middle Ages. Many people — from successful knights to contemplative philosophers — compiled lists of virtuous qualities, called the “knightly virtues,” which they felt defined chivalry. No two were exactly the same.

There were, however, several common themes found in these lists of knightly virtues. By combining these, we have created what we consider to be the seven knightly virtues of the modern code of chivalry:

Courage

More than bravado or bluster, today’s knight in shining armor must have the courage of the heart necessary to undertake tasks which are difficult, tedious or unglamorous, and to graciously accept the sacrifices involved.

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In tough economic times, it can be difficult to think about how we got into this mess. All we really want to think about is how to get out of the mess.

But we really must consider how we got there in the first place because if we don’t, then we will make those same mistakes.

One of the common causes of financial hardship is poor financial stewardship. People spend more money than they have to buy stuff they don’t need, and then, they can’t pay it back. If you look back over your financial history and see a pattern of excessive spending and buying on credit with no income to pay it back - you might just have a problem.

You may think one of the great aspects of wealth is how much money you have. It’s not. The great aspect of wealth is how you use money. You may have heard if you take money from a rich person, he’ll be poor, but if you take money from a wealthy person, he’ll just make more. But consider this. If you give money to a rich person, he’ll spend it. He’ll have more stuff and the same amount of money. If you give money to a wealthy person, he will figure out how to invest it to make more money.

Stewardship is the key. You cannot put money into the hands of someone whose habit is to spend it without first developing the habit for good stewardship.

The Great Society was a government program that was supposed to take our poorest neighborhoods, tear down the old, run down houses, and replace them with new homes. The thought was that if these poor people had nicer homes and something to be proud of, they would take better care of them and property values would rise. What happened was the opposite. Within a few years, the new homes were in the same shape as the ones they replaced. Why? Because money was poured into giving people who had no idea of stewardship something to which the had to be good stewards of.

If you cannot be a good steward, you will never be able to maintain wealth, a home, a relationship, or anything else.

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John 1:14

So the Word became flesh and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his Glory, the Glory of the only Son of the Father.

I remember back to when I was 9 yrs old back in Puerto Rico seeing my Dad every morning at the kitchen table with his cup of coffee and what to me seemed like the world’s largest black leather Bible.

I also remember the great sense of peace it gave me to see my Father reading that book. Just a couple of years prior, my Father was a different man and, to his own acknowledgment, had destroyed his marriage to my mother. Yet that book brought about a drastic change in him. He became a new Man.

Now at 35, whenever I speak of my father I refer to him as with book and without. In my own life I purposely put myself in places where my daughter can see me sitting with that Book and hope she sees what I saw in my Father. She will only ever know me as Papa with book.

I am well aware of the man I am apart from this book. Call me Old fashioned, but I carry it with me wherever I go. I make room for Christ to speak to me whenever and wherever he chooses. I want all that he has for me!

God’s instruction to Joshua is the same for us meditate on it day and night and then it will make your way successful!

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