As
you start the New Year, it would be wise to evaluate your priorities, which are
the things that are most important to you. We all have things that are more important
to us than other things. Here are four ways to identify your priorities.
1. What you have a passion for.
2. How much time you spend with it.
3. How much money you spend on it.
4. What you choose it over.
The
buttons on a shirt represent priorities. If you get
the top button of a shirt buttoned wrong, all of the other buttons will be out
of order. If I take the bottom
button of the shirt and put it in the top hole, the shirt will get messed up.
Let’s just say the bottom button is golf. There’s nothing wrong with golf but
it’s a bottom button in life. To get the buttons in
the right order, it starts with God being the top priority.
Button #1:
God. Jesus said the top button is to love God with all your heart,
soul, and mind (Matt. 22:37). Seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness
(Matt. 6:33). Read some of God’s Word every day and talk to Him throughout the
day.
Button
#2: Your spouse. If you’re married, that means your spouse is your number two
priority. You made a vow to God at your wedding to honor your spouse and forsake
all others.
Button
#3: Your children. Love
them and teach them about God. Take care of their spiritual needs before
you enroll them in sports or dance classes. Many kids grow up with the wrong values
because their parents instilled the wrong priorities in them.
Button #4: Your job. You can serve God at
your job by doing excellent work. “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as
for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive
the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve” (Col.
3:23-24).
Button #5: Your
ministry. I
know a pastor who put his ministry as his highest priority—until he almost lost
his family. He said, “I gave my life away to strangers and neglected my own
household.” You can have an effective ministry and still have a healthy family
life.
Button #6: Your
hobbies. God
wants you to rest. Recreation is like therapy, so it’s good to have a hobby
that you enjoy doing. But it’s a bottom button. Don’t put it in the top hole. www.makinglifecount.net
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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net Twitter: @KentCrockett
