Pyramid of Priorities

The natural order of God.

The food pyramid was adopted by the USDA in 1992 as a base line for eating healthy. Taking up the largest portion of the daily suggested serving is pastas bread and cereals. Lower in suggested servings is fruits and vegetables, followed by meats, beans, and dairy proteins.

Today however, many dietitians and weight loss experts would likely agree this is incorrect and we should instead “flip the order of the food pyramid.”

Curiously…why the US Government thought you should have 6-11 servings of bread and cereal a day and only 2-4 servings of fruit and protein is beyond me…no wonder we are obese as a nation. Rule of thumb now-a-days seems to be: do the exact opposite of what they recommend (with everything) if you want to stay healthy.

But we have been programmed not just with food but our priorities of life.

We have been told to go to work, raise a family, and when there is time left, maybe we can squeeze room in for God…but only after scrolling social media.

The un-unofficial priorities of society:

Work

Family

God.

Except…it should be flipped.

You may know someone, perhaps yourself who has placed your entire life on goals and self ambition. It was all about rising to the top. You made sacrifices, missed children’s birthdays parties and family events. Maybe stayed extra to impress the superiors. And you got promoted, recognized or even a better job…and still other times… you didn’t.

It was all about your numbers at the end of the year, accolades and accomplishments.

Sure, your relationship struggled with your spouse at time, you were too tired for your children when you got home, and when did you ever have time to pray or read the bible?

This is the “rat race” designed to keep you distracted from your family, chasing money, and paying bills, stressed and forgetting God. A design by man, the enemy or perhaps both. After all, the enemy is referred to as the ruler or “god” of this world(John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).)

The order of world is chaos, stress and anxiety. But the natural order of God is easy, light, and provides rest for our souls(Matthew 11-28-30). This order is: God, family, then work.

Colossians 3:23 NIV says:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,”

And Proverbs 3:6 says to put God first in everything you do just as Matthew 6:33 says to seek the kingdom of God above anything else.

Perhaps putting it more bluntly, Matthew 6:24 NLT says:

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”

The Bible provides the proper order for our lives.

What about our family? God before Family?

Yes, it took me a long time to accept and understand this early in my faith journey. This had to come with time.

As much as I love my wife, she can never give me or fill me with the love God has to offer. And it’s not fair to expect that from her either. God can fill voids no person can. God can provide Love and understanding no one else can.

What about parents? They will fall short too unfortunately. As can both young and adult children. As much as we love our family, they will let us down, they will disappoint us and at times even hurt us.

Of course sadly others have terrible or no relationship at all with their parents or children. Many of these people struggle to find trust even with God. This is because they have only seen bad examples of human love.

But when we come to the realization that God IS love, this takes the expectation and burden off us and our family to perform at His level. If we learn to love God first, then we can learn to love others as we love God and …as God loves them!

This is why I pray that my wife loves God more than she loves me. Because ultimately her spiritual, physical and mental needs can only be fulfilled by God. God can do things for her that I cannot. I am an imperfect partner and incapable of perfect love. Like many things here on earth, human love is a fallen imperfect shadow of its heavenly counterpart.

But if we place God first, we can learn how to love more like him. While you may get mad at your spouse or kids, God won’t. His love never waivers, his love is patient, it is kind…

“It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.^”

God’s

“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV.

Love God first and strive to love others like God loves them.