by Christina Eve
Whether you are new in your faith walk, you've been "holy steppin" for a while, or you just want a fresh restart, today’s topic will help you get started with putting the right foot forward.
Discovering that person who God designed for you to be starts with prioritizing your relationship with Jesus Christ.
Making Jesus a priority is a daily choice, but unless you are intentional about forming habits around spending time with Jesus in your word and devotion, then it can easily become an after thought. And when I say after thought, I don’t mean to imply that we don’t want to do it… it is that the Devil will do whatever he can to distract you from doing it.
The stronger our minds become with God’s word, the harder it is for him to come at us any kind of way AND the path that God has laid out for our lives becomes clearer and clearer with God’s word.
Psalm 119:105 says ”Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path.”
The closer we get to God the less likely we are to be tempted by sin.
Something that helps me prioritize spending time with Jesus in my scripture is reminding myself that this is a relationship. Religion is what it is, but a relationship can change. It takes two people and I know Jesus shows up for me every day… every second. He longs to spend time with me so that I can get to know Him. He already knows everything about me. But when I neglect showing up for Him, I take his love for granted - and that’s not cool.
So here are three applicable ways to prioritize spending time with Jesus.
Number ONE: Give Jesus Your Full Attention
There is a time of day where you feel your absolute best mentally. Whether is be when you first wake up in the morning, maybe it is before going to bed at night, or during your lunch break. Whenever that time, you should set it aside for Jesus.
The interesting thing is that everyone spends time with Jesus differently. In my time with Him I like to sing to HIm and listen to or read my bible. But, my favorite thing is to do do during our time together is to pray and listen. I pick the time of day where I feel my best mentally because I want to give Him my full attention. Where I could be spending that energy on something else, I am going to choose to spend it with Him. And I know He appreciates that.
Number TWO: Consult with Him before Making Decisions
We can prioritize Jesus in our life by consulting with Him. Yes; Jesus is our friend, but He is also our Lord. To call someone Lord is by definition saying that they have power, authority, or rule. As believers, we know that when we asked Jesus to come into our life and save us we are asking him to make a change in us and to take charge.
BUT here is the kicker… We are free beings and we make our own choices. If we weren’t then we wouldn’t be talking about prioritizing Jesus… He would have made himself the priority in our lives. Nope.. That part is up to us.
So a way to honor Jesus is to pray to him about the decisions that we make. He sent His Holy Spirit to be our guide… some people refer to this as their conscience, but it is the Spirit of God trying to help you live a righteous life. Plus, side note… we need Jesus to help us make good decisions. Usually the decisions that we make without God are trash, so prioritizing Him is to our benefit.
Number THREE: Treat Others with Love and Kindness
The last way we can prioritize Jesus - at least the last one I am going to touch on in this post is by treating others with love and kindness. Y’all… there are too many mean Christians. And I don’t get it. How do you love Jesus AND are so mean? How are you cussing someone out at the post office or at McDonalds, then are driving away with a Bible scripture as your license plate tag? But as I digress…
Jesus commanded us to love one another. That wasn’t optional and it came with no conditions. We LOVE to add our own conditions and interpretations to God’s word in order to excuse our behaviors. But that isn’t making Jesus the priority… It is making our comfortability the priority. So, treat other people with love. Treat them how you want to be treated.
There you have it. Those are three ways we can prioritize our realtionship with Jesus. There are many more than three, so if you have any additional ways, please consider commenting them below.
Remember today is a new day. A day where you and I have been given the opportunity to choose better, love stronger, and shine brighter than the day before.
ShineStrong LiveLong.
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