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“What does it mean to put God first?”

The phrase has become something of a cliché in Christian circles, but the principle it expresses is entirely biblical. Considering the alternative, for the believer no other way of navigating through life makes any sense. Not only is putting God first obedient and loving, but nothing else works.

That doesn’t stop people trying to find other ways, of course.

Self and Others

The most common strategy out there is putting self first. That need not look selfish or narcissistic to others. Most of the time it will not be obvious. It just means that you make decisions by doing what appeals to you as reasonable rather than by any other criteria, taking into account your goals, desires and immediate needs. People who live like this have often never considered any other strategy. When asked why they do the things they do, some of which end up deeply hurtful to family, spouse and/or friends, they simply inquire, “Don’t you want me to be happy?”

Well, yes, but not at the expense of everyone and everything else. Still, that is their be-all and end-all.

The second-most common strategy is faux altruism, or putting other people first. I call it fake because in the vast majority of cases, it is insufficient, powerless, and fails when put to the test. It has been my experience that when people who do not know Christ try to live for others rather than self, most often they are simply dressing up their own self-interest as good character. They give, serve or volunteer because it makes them look good or feel happy, or because they had it drilled into them as a child that such is their a duty to society and they don’t want to have to deal with a troubled conscience. Interestingly, statistics show that no matter how vocal and enthusiastic the unsaved may be about their pet causes, they don’t really do much about them. That’s why social programs are so popular: they take care of obligations most people feel without them noticing the personal cost or seeing any tangible results for their money. It has been well established that Christians give a great deal more of their incomes to charity than even the most ardent secular ideologues.

The Greatest Commandment

Putting self or others first in any particular situation is not always wrong, but it is definitely insufficient. Putting God first is both biblical and practical. Jesus was once asked which is the great commandment in the law. He replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” To love God with every fiber of your being means he becomes not just your occupation throughout the day, but his wishes and desires become your criteria for every choice you make, big and small.

Most Christians recognize the Lord should have some input into the big decisions of life. They pray for guidance about whether to marry, whether to go to the mission field or Bible school, and so on. Naturally, they also recognize the Lord has moral authority in their lives, so they put him first by respecting his preferences in their behavior: no lying, no cheating, no stealing, no affairs, and so on.

That said, only mature believers understand that putting the Lord first also involves considering how our smaller decisions might impact his interests.

The Third Helping of Pie

Let’s take a practical example of what appears to be a very small decision: a third helping of pie. The man who puts self first may decline it because second and third helpings of sweets on a regular basis will eventually make him fat and unattractive to women. Or he may say, “No, thanks” because he is frugal and recognizes that pie cost $10.99 at the grocery store, and each slice cost him over a buck. If he eats it all now, his wife will either have to spend more of his hard-earned paycheck on groceries, or else he will have to go without pie later in the week. Either way, he is looking out for his own interests.

The man who says he puts others first may decline the third piece because children in the Third World never get treats like that, and it makes him feel good to deprive himself so that he is not living quite so far above their level. The children don’t actually benefit from his self-deprivation in any measurable way, but that is neither here nor there. The man who actually puts others first may decline it because he knows his wife will enjoy it at bedtime. He is interested in pleasing her, even if she probably doesn’t need the calories either.

The man who puts the Lord first may decline the pie because he is occasionally asked to teach the local congregation, and he is well aware that a great big gut hanging over his belt buckle screams “Lack of self-control! Fruit of the Spirit incompletely developed!” The long-term effects of too many slices of pie will have a negative impact on his ability to serve Christ effectively by robbing his messages of moral authority. As much as he might like to have the slice of pie, he loves something else more, and that’s pleasing his heavenly Father.

The Most Powerful Motivation

That gets to the core of it: love. Which of these is the most power motivation, and which will be most likely to keep the man from taking the third slice of pie, very much depends on who and what he loves most. If he loves fulfilling his own immediate desires above all, he is going to scarf down that pie with an untroubled conscience. If he loves getting attention from women or keeping his food budget in line, he won’t. Likewise, provided his wife is not struggling with her own weight, the man who loves her may find greater pleasure in seeing her enjoy it than in eating it himself.

The man who loves the Lord looks out for what will please the Lord, even if that conflicts with his own desires and preferences from time to time. Putting God first, then, becomes an exercise in thinking about what the Lord’s interests may be in every area of our lives, and then acting on them to make sure the Lord gets what the Lord deserves: the very best we can give.

You will notice that in putting the Lord first and declining the slice of pie, the man is simultaneously able to express love for his wife by leaving it for her. In making a very small sacrifice for his Lord, he gets a two-fer in seeing his wife happy, and perhaps even hearing her express her appreciation.

That is very often the way, and perhaps it’s why the Lord added the words, “And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”