“Our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

These eight words should mean something to us the day after the Fourth of July and for every waking moment of our lives, for that matter.

Many of us know the phrases “We hold these truths to be self-evident,” “All men are created equal” and “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” But, how many of us fully appreciate the significance of the last eight words of the Declaration of Independence?

Those eight words were the initial price put on our independence as a nation. These words also represent an enduring currency that has made our country one of the greatest societies that has ever existed in history.

Anyone can look at any given point in our history to drudge up bad actors or events to rebut my bold assertion, but they will simply provide examples of how people failed freedom, not how freedom failed people. In fact, we have demonstrated over and over again that when the enduring values of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” are paramount, liberty and justice will always prevail.

Many might believe that I am referring to the big events in our history, like overcoming slavery, women being given the right to vote, the Civil Rights Movement or our current fight against terrorism — where the values of our opponents seem to be based upon death, servitude and misery rather than life, liberty and happiness. Certainly, these events have their place in history and deserve mention, but it is our own day-to-day interactions with each other that truly give meaning to the philosophy that resulted in the adoption of the document that we celebrated July 4.

Self-government by individuals is the surest way to achieve better lives, more freedom and the greatest amount of happiness. Self-government requires that we each manage our own lives in ways that are beneficial to society, or at least not harmful to society.

Human nature sometimes gets in the way and we give in to our lower instincts. Government must then intervene to remedy any injustice created by these transgressions. If it were not for the basic instincts of human nature, I would have no job at all. With that said however, our values must be exhibited in our government officials and especially in our justice system.

Our values have resulted in representative government, checks and balances, as well as government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

As judges, we must be guardians of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When people transgress and must visit the halls of justice, it is our society’s value for life, liberty and happiness that leads to the presumption of innocence, the right to counsel, trial by our peers, the right against self-incrimination, due process, and the absence of cruel and unusual punishment.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness should always be the fuel that runs the engine of justice.

The thin line between tyranny and freedom lies in our own hearts and minds. We must never forget how fragile our freedom is because it is based solely upon our belief that freedom is important. Freedom needs to be important not just for us; it must be considered by us to be equally important for our neighbor too in order for the dream of freedom to survive. Diminish that belief in the hearts and minds of people and you trivialize freedom. It then becomes easier to tolerate expediency, convenience and comfort over life, liberty and happiness.

So what does all of this have to do with life, fortune and sacred honor? It seems cliche to say that others have died for our freedom, but it is simply so true. If you are reading this article, then you happen to be someone who has not given his or her last full measure of devotion for freedom. However, living freedom in your day-to-day life can be noble too. Exhibiting the values that go with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is the best way to show the value of your pledge.

You will reduce the chance that you will ever need to give your life, your fortune or your sacred honor to preserve freedom if you live up to these values for yourself — and for those around you.

How important is freedom to you? How much would you sacrifice to preserve it? You now have a flavor for the questions that our nation’s founders faced 232 years ago.

Judge David Larson is a longtime resident of Federal Way and a Federal Way Municipal Court judge. Contact: David.Larson@cityoffederalway.com.