How To Put God First

“God first.”— What does it mean?

Think about this. What if today, God is peeking through the clouds, speaking to you through the sunrise? What do you think He is telling you right now? Can your soul grasp His Divine message?

Is God telling you to put Him first?
If so, do you think you understand what He means by that?

A Misconceived Phrase

Well, “God first” is one of the most common phrases we often hear and say when we refer to exercising our faith. And it does not matter what religious belief system we come from. Everyone says it. Everyone believes it is the right thing to do. And I don’t question that. But do we understand what this phrase means?

This post, by the way, is an expansion of my previous post, “God First.” (Click to see post). I think it is necessary to discuss this. Unfortunately, “God first” just slips through the tongue, is gravely misunderstood, and is inappropriately manifested.

But before I go into the main deal, I think it is crucial to answer this question first. — How do we know IT IS GOD that we are putting first? I mean, how do we know it is really Him?

Let’s dig deeper and find out the answer.

"God is in every one of us."

This line resonates with the famous song “One of Us” by Joan Osborne. The song goes:

“What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin’ to make his way home?”

And yeah, the truth is, God is truly one of us. God, indeed, created us in His image and likeness. We are one with Him and made to resemble Him. Therefore, each person we encounter is supposedly a reflection of God.

But what separates this truth is another truth. God gave us Freewill, too. This Freewill drives us to make our own choices whether or not we choose to do good or do evil.

True. God is in every one of us. But He can also NOT be in some of us.

The Clue

God resides where love is. Hence, we often say, “God is love.” It is enough to say that this should be the basis of our choices.

We have to be mindful, though, that LOVE is NOT present in the context of the following:

Anger & Hatred
Disrespect & Lust
Lies & Gossip
Deceit & Fraud
Jealousy & Envy
Greed & Pride
Abuse, Bullying & Toxicity
and any form of evil

Therefore, if love is UNFOUND in these, so is God. Because these obviously contradict what God is.

The Sign It Is God

We know IT IS GOD that we are putting first if:

It comes from a place of LOVE.
It resembles God.

Otherwise, IT IS the DEVIL that we are putting first if:

It comes from a place of MALICE.
It resembles the Devil.

Love = GOD

Malice = the Devil

Plain and simple. Easy to remember.

Freewill

The choice is ours. We have the freedom to choose. But we also know that every choice has a consequence. But that’s another blog post.

For now, let me ask you. What is your choice? Are you choosing God?

If your answer is yes, how do you exactly put Him first?

3 Ways to Put God First

Well now that you know your CLUE and SIGNS that it is really God, let’s get into the main deal.

Three simple ways of putting God first:

1) Never neglect your family — God entrusted chosen people to be your family. You must never break the trust He gave you. Most people think that providing your family’s needs is enough, though. Truth is, it is not.

Your sacred duty is to make sure they are protected and loved. Not emotionally and physically neglected, abandoned, invalidated, and disrespected.

Whenever you desert your sacred duty, you also turn away from God.

2) Show Up. Stand your ground for goodness. Do not tolerate evil. — Do not turn silent on anything that oppresses another. — crimes, fraud, theft, manipulation, abuse, etc. Be aware of anything that harms YOU and ANYONE. Do not tolerate it. Do not place justifications and excuses for it. Fight evil. Put an end to it. Speak against it. Act now. And act fast!

Every time you turn silent, you are empowering evil, not goodness.

3) Create ripples of love. — Your thoughts are so powerful that they can manifest into actions. Each day, live an intentional life, focusing on giving love to yourself, to others, and to the world. Make it a lifestyle that anything you decide to say and do always comes from a place of love. Even if it means you fight evil everyday. The intention must always begins and ends with love alone. Not malice. Not self-interest.

Express love not only through gentleness but also through strength of discernment. Remember, love also means justice.

Inspire and empower the world. Manifest it through your talents, skills, and wisdom. Never miss a chance to do so.