Define Personal Priorities

“Set priorities for your goals. A major part of successful living lies in the ability to put first things first. Indeed, the reason most major goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first.”

—ROBERT J. MCKAIN

On the top of the heights beside the way, where the paths meet, stands Wisdom [skillful and godly]; At the gates at the entrance of the town, at the coming in at the doors she, cries out.

—Proverbs 8:2–3

Our journeys through life will bring us to many unavoidable decisions, and we will always get in trouble if we make them emotionally or according to what we think or want. God wants us to make wise decisions. When I read the verses above, I see the idea of wisdom standing at every crossroad and place of decision in our lives, calling out, “Follow me!”

I believe having wisdom is choosing to do now what we will be happy with later. That is not always easy because it may require us to sacrifice something we could easily have today for something better we can have tomorrow. Investing money is a good example. You must move some of your money to a place where you can’t spend it and let it multiplyover time in order to provide more money for you later on. Many people reach old age and have nothing with which to support themselves, simply because they preferred to have instant gratification throughout their lives. This is understandable, but not wise. It is a choice made mainly out of emotions. They chose what felt good at the moment and sacrificed what would have felt even better in the long-term.

In order to define personal priorities, you must realize that what someone else does may not be the right thing for you. Live your own life and be led by the Holy Spirit. Be willing to be different if that is what it takes to keep your peace and live the good life God has prearranged for you.

Priorities should have an order in your life. You should have a number one priority, number two, number three, and so on. Our first priority, for example, should always be our personal relationship with God. We should put Him into our schedule and then work everything else around Him. If we do not do this, we will find life getting more and more complicated and messy. Things can get absolutely out of control if we don’t allow God to direct us.

There is no point in saying we don’t have time for something, because we make time for whatever is important to us. If you are not doing something, it’s because it isn’t a priority in your life. Perhaps it does not need to be one, but if it does, then you will have to rearrange some things and get your priorities in line. We don’t just get them straight once and never need to adjust them again. It is something we must do quite frequently.

There are a great many things clamoring for our attention in life, and it is rather easy to get off track—to get our priorities out-of-order. The answer to this problem of out-of-control priorities is simple, if we take the time to ask the right questions. What are your priorities? Make a list of what’s truly important to you and use that list to help you in your day-to-day decision making. You will simplify when you prioritize.