My mission in life is to inspire women to follow Christ and be all that He created them to be. This is the purpose that God has placed in my heart, as well as the experience that I live. I live following Christ, aspiring to do all that He created me to do; and I encourage others to do the same. A common struggle that we all face is keeping God first.
How to Keep God First: 5 Tips
1. Make Time for Him
If we are going to keep God first in our lives, we must make time for Him. This is an area that requires sincere intention and dedication. As our lives become more fruitful and productive, we have the tendency to gradually start spending less and less time with God. We must remember, however, that God brought us to this blessed place and God will keep us in this blessed place.
We must realize how dependent we truly are on God.
The enemy of our souls is constantly after us. He knows that the less time we spend with God, the more vulnerable we are. This state of being spiritually vulnerable will put us in a position of walking right into his traps. We must never forget that we have an enemy who is always aiming to steal, to kill, and to destroy [John 10:10].
Spending time with God will keep us alert, wise, and discerning.
2. Speak of Him
What we love, we talk about. Do you speak of God and His goodness? Consider what you do when you experience something amazing. You talk about it! God is so amazing to us. He is worthy to be discussed. We must be intentional to mention His name, His works, and His goodness in our lives. We cannot allow others dictate our conversation or our gratitude unto Him. He is always worthy of our praise.
“I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.”
– Psalm 145:5
3. Depend on Him
We often overestimate our abilities and act as though we’re capable of handling life on our own. God did not design us to go at life alone. Though He did indeed bless man with the ability to think, to choose, to produce; He did not create us to function independently of Him. This is where we get into trouble.
No matter our status in life, we have to know that we are mere sheep in need of a Shepherd.
When the psalmist wrote Psalm 23, he was speaking from the perspective of being a sheep. In verse 1, he calls God his shepherd. Read it, close your eyes, and picture it. This visualization blesses me with so much rest. God leads us, protects us, and provides for us. Yes, we play a part. We must choose to follow Him and obey Him; but we mustn’t attempt to take the credit for His goodness in our lives.
4. Call to Him
When you’re in trouble, who do you call? Your mom, spouse, a best friend? If we are to keep God first in our lives, we must learn to call on Him first. God created us and knows us better than we know ourselves. He oversees everything that goes on in our lives. Why would we bypass Him and rely on mere man to deliver us?
Man is not able to deliver us. Only God can.
We must keep everyone in our lives in their proper place. Don’t pull man closer to you than God. God must be the #1 in our lives. As we keep Him there and prioritize Him, He will give us direction and insight regarding every situation that we face.
5. Reflect.
Mankind is so progressive that it’s easy for us to fail to reflect. In order to keep God first in our lives, we must make time for reflection. We must recall to our mind all that He has done for us, how He pulled us out of our particular pit, and how He has blessed us.
We can’t forget where God has brought us from.
As we take the time to reflect, which will develop humility within us, we will be motivated to keep Him first in our lives. Reflection allows us to realize that we never would’ve made it without Him. It is only by His grace that we’ve accomplished all that we have.
“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”
– I Corinthians 15:10
