When I was newly married, my husband was my top priority. I remember thinking of ways to make our little apartment special for him. I thought about foods to prepare that I knew he enjoyed. I made sure that I looked nice when he got home from work. I wanted to be the best wife for him because I loved him.
Five years and three children later, my priorities had slowly shifted. It wasn’t intentional, mind you. Children demand a lot of a mother, especially in their early years.
There are a number of reasons our priorities become compromised. Life has a way of providing situations, circumstances, and relationships that test what’s truly most important to us. If we aren’t careful, we can find ourselves involved in things that do not reflect what our real priorities are.
Because life is ever-changing, we are faced with a test of our priorities on a regular basis. The trouble is, many times we don’t even realize it. We carry on, dealing with situations as they come, that is until suddenly we realize we are stressed and out of balance.
So, are you feeling stressed? Does life seem out of balance? If you answered yes, it’s time to check your priorities. How? There’s a simple test coming up soon.
God has given us a blueprint for our priorities and He kept it really simple. We should love Him above all else, seeking His kingdom first and all of the other things in life fall into place.
GOD PROVIDED A SIMPLE BLUEPRINT FOR PRIORITIES: LOVE HIM ABOVE ALL ELSE, SEEK HIS KINGDOM FIRST & ALL ELSE FALLS INTO PLACE. #prioritiestest
— Beckie Lindsey (@BeckieLindsey_) August 8, 2017
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” Matthew 22:37-38
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33
By all means, I’m still a work in progress. I don’t claim to have my life in perfect balance. But I have learned a few things that have brought me some peace and a better balance of priorities.
Could you use some more balance and more peace in your life?
In order to get our lives and priorities in balance, we must first take a look at where we are spending our time. This shouldn’t be a one-time event. I have gotten in the habit of reevaluating my life priorities on a yearly basis. If something of significance, like a major change, such as an illness occurs, I may re-evaluate sooner. The way we live our day-to-day lives tell us about our priorities.
The Priorities Test
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What do you think about the most?
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Where does your money go first?
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How do you spend your time?
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Ask someone close to you to answer honestly what they see as your top five priorities
Once you’ve answered the three questions and gotten the list back from your family member/friend, it’s time to evaluate.
If things are not in proper balance, the first place to start is prayer. Ask God to help you get your priorities right.
Most of us realize that God should be our top priority, however seeking God first can be easier said than done. The good news is, God wants to help. He knows our weaknesses and things that distract us. Even when we are unfaithful, He is still faithful to us. He is waiting for us to ask for His help in getting our priorities right.
In John 10:10, Jesus said, “…My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”
The key to having this rich and satisfying life is to keep God in His rightful place in our priorities. God said to Abraham, “Walk and live habitually before Me . . .” (Genesis 17:1 AMP).
Notice that God instructed Abraham to be habitual in walking with Him and living for Him. We can do this by establishing daily habits of prayer, worship and time in the Word.
Here’s the hitch: God doesn’t just want to be at the top of our to-do list. He wants to be the center of everything in our lives. This is why He said we must love Him with all that we are.
Friends, the Christian life is a process. When you were a baby, did you just get up and walk? Of course not. It was a process. Even when you started walking, it was clumsy and you often fell down.
When we make a decision to put God as our first priority and in the center of our lives, the by-product is what Jesus promises to give us, “a rich and satisfying life.” Of course, it won’t be perfect or without troubles.
A life lived on purpose for God’s purpose is one of fulfillment and balance.
What do you think? Please join the conversation in the comments below.
My husband and I have been married for 35 years. Like all, we too have had our ups and downs. After coming to know Christ and understanding”Seek ye first the Kingdom of God”, the day I shared with my husband he was not my Savior anymore was the day we both began to truly enjoy deeper and closer relationship. The more we invite God and His Holy Word to lead and guide us, the sweeter and more abundant our life together has grown to become.No, my husband is not my Savior anymore and the freedom we have to love, and be loved by the One who gave His all has changed both our lives and our family’s life more than we could ever believed or imagine. God bless you. I pray for those seeking a fuller and peaceful life they would embrace your excellent advice.
Denise, When I read you have been married 35 years, I knew you would have some sage advice. You are so correct in saying our husbands, friends, or anything else for that matter, cannot be our Savior. The job of Savior is for Jesus alone.
Thanks for taking the time to comment and may the Lord bless you with many, many more years of marriage.
Thank you:) Yes, I remember so clearly, when I made this statement to my husband, I could visual see he made a sigh of relief as if a burden, he didn’t even know he carried, was released! It was amazing to both of us the freedom in Christ we gained in each other! God bless you too!!
Beckie — everyone can probably relate to this post including me. Life is full of hustle and bustle and things can easily get our priorities shifted. The questions posed really make an impact. Keep your priorities in order is at times difficult but we must if we want to be a successful Christian.
Thanks
Del
Del, often I share what the Lord is teaching me. I must stop and check my priorities regularly, so I figured others might benefit from God’s lessons. His lessons, of course, are never-ending, but always for our good. I’m so grateful He loves us and wants to teach us.
Blessings, my friend!
Definitely, God must take first place in our priorities. It took me many years of growing to realize this as fully as I do today. It is so true – when He is first, everything falls into place, and we find we are living a more abundant and fulfilled life than ever we could imagine. And I love what you said about God not being tops on our “to do” list, but He should be all about “who we are.”
Blessings, Beckie!
Awesome, Beckie! You’re a kindred-spirit. This really makes us think through if God is first in our lives. This is powerful, “God has given us a blueprint for our priorities and He kept it really simple.” 🙂
Aww! Thanks, Karen. I’m honored to be called a kindred-spirit with a godly woman like you 🙂
I’m glad you found this helpful.
Blessings!
It’s so easy to get caught up in life and drift from what really matters to us. Thanks for the reminder and some good questions to recalibrate.
Brian, thanks so much. I’m glad you found this post helpful.
Those three questions provide real introspection and places to evaluate. Thank you!
Marilyn, I’m glad you found the article helpful. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Blessings!
This is good Beckie👏
I like your diagnostic questions. Sometimes we need that heart check to see where our priorities really lie.
Leigh, I need a heart check on a regular basis which is why I wrote the post—hoping it could be a tool for others too. I’m glad it was helpful.
Thanks for commenting and may the Lord bless you and yours.
Beckie, this post came at just the perfect time! My life has gotten crazy busy, and I feel like I’m spinning plates and trying to keep them all in the air. I love the quiz and plan to sit down and answer those questions. I’ve got to regroup and reestablish priorities. Thanks so much, dear friend!
Crickett, I’m sorry to hear life has been a bit crazy lately, but I’m so pleased this post was some help. I’m praying for you!
Blessings!