In My Opinion
By Lynn Paris
God and Christianity 101-2
(If you'd like to start with part 1 in this series, please click here.)

Putting God First
When someone tentatively begins to accept the notion of God, it often starts with the idea that there MUST be something to it, or why would so many millions of otherwise sane and intelligent people believe in Him. So they think, “OK, I guess I can give that a try. I can certainly go to church for an hour on Sundays, and maybe I can work a prayer or two into my schedule during the week, in between being with my family and working and watching football and fixing up the house and… well, I’ll try to fit Him in.”

And then someone tells them that they need to put God FIRST in their lives. First? I thought I was supposed to put my family first. I haven’t even managed to do that all the time, and now you’re saying God needs to come first. What’s my wife (or husband) going to say to that one?

That, of course, is where the rubber meets the road. Once you understand what putting God first really means, you realize that you’ve made the choice to elevate love, compassion, generosity, humility, and forgiveness—God’s character—to the highest position in the household. By the same token, traits that may once have played a huge role in your life, like materialism, greed, selfishness, being judgmental or hypocritical, traits that are the antithesis of God’s character, are no longer relevant. Of course, that makes it sound easy, like turning off one switch and turning on another. It’s not; it takes focus. It takes hard work. But it’s a CHOICE, one you can make and continue to strive for every single day. By putting God first and actually following His commands, you will love your spouse as yourself; you’ll do unto him or her as you would want done unto you, and if you happen to have an argument, as spouses often do, hopefully you’ll remember that love is patient and kind, and never keeps a record of wrongdoings.

If God is first, then you’ll not only love your children with all your heart, but you will also be their protector, teacher, caregiver, and role model. You’ll be a good neighbor, and your friends and acquaintances will know you as a person of great kindness and integrity. You’ll be a good steward of the environment, protecting that which He created for future generations. Putting God first means that you’ll do household chores, gardening, grocery shopping—anything asked of you—with the same spirit of enthusiasm as you do your job, and you’ll do that job with conscientiousness and passion—not because the boss is looking or hands you a paycheck—but because it pleases God.

That sounds too good to be true.  In fact, it sounds too “good,” period. Who can live like that? Well, none of us can, all the time, but deciding whom you put first in your life brings you instant clarity about how you should live. It gives you a goal, and brings you a heck of a lot closer to a place of joy and contentment. “But what about everything I’ll have to give up?” is often the next question. Putting God first does NOT mean giving up a full and joyful life; in fact, that’s exactly what He desires for us; He created us to live a life of abundance. Now if you mean the illegal or immoral things, yeah, you’ll have to give those up, but you should probably get rid of those anyway. God wants us all to become the people He intended us to be, not ones who continue breaking legal or moral codes of conduct. Usually, they’re in place to keep us safe, protect others, or to save us the pain of a guilty conscience anyway, so putting God first tends to make us think longer before we act; it’s knowing that He knows that often trumps the codes in the first place.

When you put God first in your life, your priorities just fall into place naturally. So maybe you’re figuring, putting God first isn’t really all that bad, maybe it will even help. And that’s when you learn that you not only have to put God first, but that God is in control. If He’s in control, then guess what? You’re not. We’ll talk about what THAT means next time.

Send me your opinions at LParis@netlistings.com