Trail Life’s motto is “Walk Worthy” and it has layers of meaning in how we live our daily lives.

At its simplest level, it means to behave in a manner that is consistent with our ideals.

While the specific phrase “walk worthy” appears in six different parts of the New Testament, Trail Life specifically references Colossians 1:10.

In this section of the Bible, we find the author (the Apostle Paul) of a letter to the church at Colossae. The opening of the letter includes his greetings to the church members and a prayer on their behalf.

Paul had heard that the people at that church were good folks, following Christ’s teachings, and he prayed that they might be even stronger in their faith practices. Specifically, that they’d “be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”

Why do we need to be filled with knowledge? So that we will behave in a manner consisted with being fully aware of our duties, responsibilities, roles, and relationships.  That we might not trip and stumble along the trail blindly, but walk with purposeful strides and accomplish much that pleases God and demonstrates love to those people we meet along the trail.

As Christians, our ideals come from the Bible and we typically spend a great deal of time reading, pondering, and learning more about the instructions found in the Bible.  This is one of the reasons why the new Trail Life USA program has faith interwoven throughout the curriculum AND supplementary curriculum designed to help youth learn more about God (Ps 1:1-3; Tim 3:14-17; Ps 119:105; Isaiah 55:11; Rom 10:17; Ps 119:9; Joshua 1:8, et.al.).

To walk worthy of the ideals found in the Bible is a high calling and we’re not perfect – we may stumble and fall from time to time, but we’re enabled to get up and keep trying (Rom 15:4).  We’re also called to encourage one another along the trail, too (1 Thessalonians 5:9-11; Eph 4:29; Rom 15:1-7).

This struggle to walk worthy isn’t what saves us from God’s judgment – He’s already demonstrated His love toward us in providing a means of salvation through His grace – but we are called to live a life which demonstrates gratitude towards Him and shares His good news boldly with those who don’t have salvation (Ephesians 6:19; Mark 16:15; Rom 10:13-17).

So the ideals that we hold as our standard for “walking worthy” stem from learning all about God through His word. Walking worthy of those instructions comes from a proper sense of gratitude for His love, grace and mercy which has been demonstrated to us in the most precious of ways: the sacrifice of His only son on our behalf to save us from our sins.

As Trailmen, leaders, and supporters, we should be intentional in living out our motto on a day to day basis, and in encouraging each other to do so even when we’ve failed. What are some specific ways we can incorporate or demonstrate the motto in our lives, meetings, outings and program activities?

This blog originally appeared on Paul Farrell’s blog and was shared here with his permission.