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.