Years ago I received some advice from a mentor about priorities in life. It’s stuck with me. I’m passing them along to you now:
Five things, in this order, lead to a well-ordered life:
- God. It all starts here. If this one’s not right, none of the others will ever be right. Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek FIRST the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
- Spouse. Notice it’s not “Family” in the number two slot. It’s specifically your spouse. We must prioritize our spouses ahead of our kids. Loving our kids well and prioritizing them properly begins with loving our spouses well. When you were married the preacher said, “and the two shall become one.” He didn’t say, “And the family shall become one.” Your spouse takes priority over your kids.
- Your kids. Sometimes we get messed up here and our kids get our very best and our spouses get leftovers. When this happens, our priorities are out of whack. Your kids need to understand that, while they’re extremely important, and unconditionally loved, your relationship with your spouse trumps, BUT they absolutely come ahead of…
- Career. We all know lots of people who have this one too high up (sometimes #1) on the priority list. For the record, if your priorities are in proper order, this one checks in at #4. You don’t want to lose numbers 1-3 because this one came ahead of them—and we see that sort of thing happen all the time.
- Ministry—as in, your ministry at church. Surprised to see this one come in after some of the others. Don’t be. Again, if the top four are misaligned, then the others will never be right.
C.S. Lewis said, “Put first things first and you’ll get second things thrown in. Put second things first and you’ll lose both first and second things.”
Are your priorities in the right places?
0 comments:
Post a Comment