What was your last thought before you went to bed last night? Did you go to sleep with worry, stress, or fear? What was your first thought when you woke up this morning? Did you wake up with the same or similar feelings? So many things fight for attention and priority in our lives, but no matter what, we must find joy and peace by putting God first. God does not want us to live with fear, stress, and regret but to live joyfully. Putting God first means we allow God into every area of our life, and we trust Him to handle everything.
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Unfortunately, when we think of putting God first, we immediately consider the tasks we should do. For example, we may think of praying, attending church, reading the Bible, fasting, or giving. We must deal with our thoughts before our actions can get in line. We must evaluate what takes up our headspace and determine if God is first there.
We must ask ourselves what or who is consuming our thoughts and actions. If we are not waking up with joy and peace, we may have some things out of order. When God is first, everything else falls in line perfectly. Not putting God first is like skipping the first buttonhole on our shirt, and everything is out of order. A genuine relationship with God begins with our belief in who God is and where He fits in our lives. If God is the most important to us, we will live praying, loving, believing, and trusting Him, leading to peace and joy.
Make a Decision To Put God First
Every day, we decide to respond to life’s circumstances according to God’s Word or rely on something or someone else. As we deal with life’s ups and downs, we must decide whether to depend on ourselves, our feelings and strength, or God’s commands and promises. We must also determine the most important: our fleshly desires and comfort or God’s Kingdom purposes and plans.
We must be careful because anything that is above God in our lives is an idol. We must be careful not to let anything become more important or more of a priority than our relationship with God and His purpose and plans for our lives. Nothing can be allowed to consume more time in our minds or actions than God, including:
- People
- Emotions
- Possessions
- Addictions
Put God Before People
The first commandment reminds us to put God first (Deuteronomy 5:7 ESV). We should love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds (Mark 12:30). God also wants us to love others, starting with our spouse, kids, and parents. We reap spiritual benefits for generations when we love our family as God has commanded. In addition to our family, we are called to love other people, but no one comes before God. Everything and everyone in our lives must come second as we put God first. When problems arise with people, we must pray for them and trust God to intervene.
Put God Before Emotions
When we serve God wholeheartedly and put Him first, our soul prospers, and our joy and peace increase. Our emotions cannot be trusted, and we must be careful not to let them rule our actions or take up more headspace than they ought. Our relationship with God and obedience to His Word must not rest on our feelings or emotions.
If the enemy thinks that He can control us by messing with our emotional responses, then that is where He will aim. The Bible warns that we must go through seasons, but no matter what, we run to God and keep Him first. There will be times of joy and pain. When we are happy, we should praise God; when we’re sorrowful, we should pray to God.
When we put God first, we trust that God will take care of us (Joshua 1:9). Instead of panicking and withdrawing, we give all of our worries to God, and we face our trials and tribulations with bold confidence in Him (Ephesians 3:12). We do this by casting all of our cares upon Him in prayer, asking, and believing with faith that He will handle our situations. Even when it looks complicated, and we can not see our way out of trouble, we must believe God has a plan. We must look at whatever is causing us emotional pain and consider it a mountain that is not too big for God to handle. We can not let the problem be more prominent in our lives than our God.
Put God Before Possessions
When I was younger, I wanted to live with a big house, a maid, fast cars, and a big yard. Nothing is wrong with having hopes, dreams, and desires, but God wants to be first. If our desire to have something takes us away from the pursuit of having a stable relationship with God, there is a problem, and our priorities are out of order.
God knows what is best for us, and we must trust Him to bless us in a way that will be good for us and bring Him glory. I know now that the maid would have made me lazy, fast cars would have led to reckless driving, and the big house may have caused prideful living. We must understand that God desires to give good gifts.
Our possessions cannot become idols or stumbling blocks in our lives. God wants us to seek Him first and be willing to be content without earthly treasures. We should never be so determined to get something in this life that negatively impacts our relationship with God.
Put God Before Addictions
As Christians, we should be free and not bound to anything, but sometimes, we have habits or addictions that control us. We can not allow any substance or behavior to enslave us, master us, or dictate our thoughts and actions. Whenever we allow something to draw us into repetitive behavior that does not bring glory to God, we must ask God to help. The problem with addictions is that they consume us and become idols in our lives. When we turn to addictions rather than God, we are not putting Him first.
God wants us to run to him at all times, but sometimes people mistakenly run away from God and toward an addictive behavior or substance when dealing with stress. Addiction satisfies the flesh, but God calls us to set our minds on the things above. God can deliver, heal, and restore us, but we must be willing to ask for His help and work through becoming free.
God can offer instant freedom from addictions, but often, we must break free by trusting Him daily and step by step. God wants to give us a new life free from all the chains that bind us, but we must allow Him.
A Prayer Find Joy And Peace By Putting God First
When we put God first, everything else falls in line correctly. Sometimes, we carry stress, fear, and regret when God wants to give us peace and joy. It is far better to allow God and His love, mercy, and promises to have center stage. Let’s pray and ask God to help us put Him first so that we receive His peace and joy in our lives.
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Thank you for this encouraging post, Krystal! I particularly love the prayer for putting God first!
Thanks so much, Patsy. I am so glad you enjoyed the post this week and the prayer. May God bless you for taking the time to encourage me with your positive words.
Great post Krystal. I have more joy and peace in my heart and in my life today than I have had in 10+ years. I often pray for others but I have to admit praying for some like those that intend me harm is a difficult concept for me. It’s not that I don’t think they deserve prayers. I am just at a loss for how to effectively pray for them.
I know we all struggle sometimes with praying for those who would do us harm, but I find that if I just think of them as being a poor unsuspecting human who is unknowingly allowing the enemy to work through them to try and hurt me, it helps me to see the need to pray for them. I guess I feel sorry for them for not knowing that the enemy is working through them. It makes it easier for me to pray that they get closer to God because then they would be able to stop the enemy from working. I would love to know what you think of that idea. Thanks so much for all of your comments and let me know how I can be more of a blessing to you. May God bless you richly.