Tom's Idea

How many of you have heard the saying, "God first, family second, ministry third."

I remember once, long ago, saying that to my Pastor's wife. She responded by disagreeing, and saying, "no, it is all God! If you just make Him your everything, He will put everything else in it's proper place."

I really liked that, it made a lot of sense to me, because, often times, the whole 'family before ministry' is really a way to make family before God; it is a cop out.

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So a woman asked that exact question in our Discipleship Group this past week. "Who am I supposed to love more, God or family?"

...and so, I explained to her what my pastor's wife had once explained to me...

Unfortunately I wasn't doing such a good job explaining, because our friend didn't understand what I was getting at and she asked, "Am I not supposed to love my family at all? I am only supposed to love God?"

Then Tom chimed in:

"God is the lens through which we see our family... and everything else!"

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It isn't that God doesn't want us to love family, or to prioritize other good things in our lives, but rather He wants us to prioritize our lives around Him and His agenda. Saying "God, family, ministry, in that order," makes God one priority among many, even if He is the first priority. God should be the one who sets our priorities for us! He is above all of our other priorities...

God is not the biggest planet in orbit; rather He is the sun, the gravitational center around which the planets orbit.