Our pastor recently preached a sermon in which he told us that truly healthy living (body, mind and soul) begins with getting our priorities straight. That is great advice for a number of reasons. There is only so much time in a day (or a lifetime for that matter), and we continually make choices (deliberately or by default) as to how we are going to fill that time. If we have clear-cut goals for what we want to accomplish and determine what is necessary to accomplish them, we can then establish priorities to help us focus on what is important. If not, we will just wander from one activity to another without really getting anywhere.

The key to setting proper goals for our lives and correctly aligning our priorities to accomplish them is to seek God’s advice. After all, he created us for a purpose and has a plan for our lives that is intended to fulfill that purpose. The Bible is his instruction book to explain his purpose and plan. Reading the Bible, while asking God to help us understand what he is saying to us in it, enables us to discover his intentions for us.

The Psalms tell us in several places that reverence for God is the beginning of wisdom. Acknowledging his sovereignty then is the first step in discovering who we are and why we are here on this earth. Jesus reinforced this by saying the first and greatest of God’s commandments is to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, and soul and mind. He went on to say the second is to love our neighbors as ourselves. He then illustrated this by telling a story about a man who went out of his way to help a stranger in need. (Luke 10:30-37). Our lives should be ordered such that our foremost priorities are to demonstrate our love for God and for those around us.  This means much more than just saying “I love you”.  Love involves commitment, not just an emotional feeling.  Love is demonstrated in the way we treat people.

Remember: “But God demonstrates his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

And: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for a friend.” (John 15:13)

Now obviously the ultimate sacrifice anyone can make is to die in order that someone else can live.  But, while most of us will probably never have the opportunity to demonstrate our love in this manner, there is another sense in which we can all “lay down our lives” on a daily basis. This is by giving preference to others so their needs can be met, even when it means we must sacrifice what we want.   The Apostle Paul said to the Christians at Rome:

“Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another.” (Romans 12:10)

Remember Jesus also said:

“Anyone wanting to be a leader among you must be your servant.  And if you want to be right at the top, you must serve like a slave.  Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28 )

God’s priorities always place people above things. We do well when we follow his example.

The world today seems increasingly to be divided into warring camps – based on religion, nationality, gender, liberalism, conservatism, and many other isms. Each is these is occupied with hurling insults, slanders and hatred – if not grenades and bombs – at the others. There seems to be little desire for peace and reconciliation among the warring factions, much less a realistic chance of achieving these. But if you are overwhelmed by the flood of vitriol that fills the news today, take heart. There is hope for the future.

That hope is based on recognizing who the real enemy is. It is not the people on the other side of the fence that divides us. In fact, it is not people at all. Our enemy is much more pervasive and powerful than that. He harbors a deep-seated hatred for all of mankind and seeks to destroy us by dividing and conquering us. The Bible says of him:

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” I Peter 5:8 NIV

And he is not alone. He has a host of spiritual beings in league with him, all of them bent on our destruction. Because of this, the Bible instructs us to:

” … be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:10-12 NIV

Powerful as they are, the spiritual forces of evil are no match for us if we are in fellowship with God, because

“the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world.” 1 John 4:4 (MSG)

So we are guaranteed the victory, not just for ourselves and our little group, but for all mankind, if we recognize who the real enemy is, stop fighting one another, and come together against him and his minions, relying on the power of Holy Spirit within us.

Rejoice, brothers and sisters, the war may not be over yet, but the battle is already won.