Priorities part 1
I'm hard to bother. Almost completely unflappable. But one thing that gets me is when people don't put first things first. (That's another habbit of happy, successful people.) We get so distracted so often and let little things wreck us. We make mountains out of molehills. We do things because we're "supposed" to instead of doing things because they are in our hearts to do them. And, listen, as hard as I am to flap, I'm either all or nothing. I know that about myself. So its easy for me to look at a situation and say, "Who cares?" My step-mom actually brought this idea home for me at Bible college in one of the classes she was teaching. She asked, "If its not going to matter in five years, is it really worth getting upset about right now?" But we really do let the little things get us. We'll let something like getting cut of in traffic ruin our whole day. That's no way to live. Living is loving. Loving that person who cut you off. You don't need to know him, or his story, or what in order to love him. You can say a quick prayer for him and move on. Let go and let God, right? So let me share my memory verse for today. Believe it or not, its one of my favorites. "And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8). Above all things. Number one priority. Bottom line. Or, as Logan says, top line--because you put the important stuff at the top. I've always said there are only two important things; God and people. Love God and love people. Love God BY loving people. Because its all about love. Love must be our number one priority. And I don't say that lightly. Generally speaking, I prefer the term "ought." Because I don't like to tell people what to do. Unasked for advice is unwanted advice. But when it comes to love I can't say it strongly enough. Above all... we MUST have fervent love for one another. Because charity (love in action) covers THE multitude of sins. Not "a" multitude. Not a bunch of sins. THE multitude. All of them. Above ALL. So when someone does you wrong--intentionally or not--make sure your priorities are right. Love them anyway. Like I always say, "Don't take it personally, even if it is." Because even if it is, how will being mean to someone who is being mean to you help anything? Let me say it like this, "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21). The correct way to "fight fire with fire" is to heap fiery coals of love onto people's heads. Not to burn them, but to melt their hearts. Our priority should not be to punish, or destroy. Our priority must be to love. To heal. To forgive. To edify. To support people and lift them up. You can't make yourself look better by making other people look worse. That just makes YOU look bad. And, one more time, it shouldn't be our priority to make ourselves look better OR to make other people look worse. It should be--it must be--our priority to love people. Don't worry about sins--which, really, is every action that comes from unbelief. From believing that we must do in order to be. Believing that we must earn our heavenly Father's love. Look, people are just trying to do the best they can. But not everybody has their priorities straight. So get yours straight, and watch that light of love shine so others can get theirs straight too. Above all. Love!