Your to-do list is a window into your heart. Behind every daily chore, Saturday schedule, family dinner is a motivation. What we value we prioritize. What we prioritize we do. No doubt God calls us to value and thus prioritize Him above all else. This is the essence of worship. But what about the rest of life’s many responsibilities? God, in His wisdom, gives us a clear breakdown for our priorities:

1. Your personal relationship with God (Deut 6:5, 1 Peter 1:15)
2. Your family (Gen 2:24; Eph 5:1-3, 22-33; 6:4)
   1. Spouse
   2. Children
3. Your Work (1 Pete 5:1; Eccl 2:24-26, Eph 4:28)
   1. Ministry
   2. Vocation
4. Your self-recreation (Ps 46:10, Matt 6:25-34, 1 Cor 6:9-20)

Proper responsibility prioritization is a crucial act of worship. By it we maintain the glory of God by rightly loving Him above all else and then loving others before ourselves. As with all worship trust is involved, we trust God is glorious, His order is best, and He alone provides what I need for faithfulness. Any deviant priority arrangement or exclusion is wrongful worship, a result of faithlessness in self-worship. 

Selfishly structured priorities result in destruction because sin is erosive. Sin erodes life by switching its foundation from God to anything else. Prioritizing work over family erodes. Excluding self-care for ministry overtime erodes. Prioritizing self over spouse or God erodes. 

But, by God’s grace, the opposite is true too. A godly-prioritized life is a boon because faithfulness is blessed. God’s blessings flow top down. When I rightly prioritize my relationship with God it overflows into my marriage and family life, which overflows into my work/ministry life, which overflows into my rest in God (where the cycle begins again).

Repentance begins proper privatization – Repentance is our Spirit-empowered rudder to get us back on course. Turning away from false idols and back to God is the first step in realigning your life to God’s blessed structure.

What do I “need” to prioritize God in my life? – Answering honestly will help identify improper priorities (E.g. “I just need my house to be in order to spend meaningful time with God.”). Our true need is God Himself. Thankfully, He took the first step toward us in love.

Find your “needs” in God – Don’t outright ditch what you just repented of, instead properly demote it and for God to supply it in Himself. (E.g. “Lord, thank you for making me an orderly person, my house is a wreck though… help me find peace in you.” Properly submitting your desires to God and finding them in God maintains proper worship.

Short-term goods becomes long-term destruction – Eventually a lower-tier responsibility may be prioritized for a short time (E.g. sending the kids to the grandparents so you can put the house together before Care Group). Be careful not to make that the norm.