The Battle of Priorities
Having the correct priorities in marriage is a struggle. We can know in our heads what is right, but we always don’t live it.
Satan can get us distracted and out of order and turn our lives upside down…
Priority 1: God & His Kingdom
•Matthew 22:37-38 (NLT)
37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
•Matthew 6:33 (NLT)
33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Priority 2: Your spouse
Ephesians 5:22-25 (NLT)
22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. 24 As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.
25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her
Christ’s first priority after loving and obeying the Father was his bride, the Church. In the same way, our next love after God should be our spouses. Christ gave his life for his bride out of obedience to God. He loved us even to the point of death! How much more are we to give our love to our spouses?
Additionally, throughout Scripture we see the priority God places on covenantal relationships… the earthly pinnacle of which is the bond between husband and wife.
Priority 3: Children & family
Proverbs 22:6 (NLT)
6 Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.
Ephesians 6:4 (NLT)
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.
1 Timothy 5:8 (NLT)
8 But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.
Priority 4: Others
Matthew 22:39 (NLT)
…‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
How to make others a priority
Let your joy in Christ overflow into every area of your life. Ask others how you can pray for them – simultaneously loving them in a very tangible way. Give what you can to those in your life who need it (time, talent, testimony, treasure).
Having the correct priorities in marriage is a struggle. We can know in our heads what is right, but we always don’t live it.
Satan can get us distracted and out of order and turn our lives upside down…
Priority 1: God & His Kingdom
•Matthew 22:37-38 (NLT)
37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
•Matthew 6:33 (NLT)
33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Priority 2: Your spouse
Ephesians 5:22-25 (NLT)
22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. 24 As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.
25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her
Christ’s first priority after loving and obeying the Father was his bride, the Church. In the same way, our next love after God should be our spouses. Christ gave his life for his bride out of obedience to God. He loved us even to the point of death! How much more are we to give our love to our spouses?
Additionally, throughout Scripture we see the priority God places on covenantal relationships… the earthly pinnacle of which is the bond between husband and wife.
Priority 3: Children & family
Proverbs 22:6 (NLT)
6 Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.
Ephesians 6:4 (NLT)
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.
1 Timothy 5:8 (NLT)
8 But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.
Priority 4: Others
Matthew 22:39 (NLT)
…‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
How to make others a priority
Let your joy in Christ overflow into every area of your life. Ask others how you can pray for them – simultaneously loving them in a very tangible way. Give what you can to those in your life who need it (time, talent, testimony, treasure).