Priorities

Here is my list of life priorities. The time and resources that I allocate to each one does not necessarily line up exactly with this list and this list is somewhat flexible. Even so, this is generally how I try to direct my daily decisions.

1. Me, Myself and God
I need to take care of my relationship with God. My spiritual and emotional health and growth are the root of everything that I am and that I give. Without this, I will eventually run dry in trying to fulfill all of the other priorities in my life. Without this, I will try to accomplish everything under my own power rather than by God's strength and direction. My usual time to devote to this is in the morning just after I wake up.

2. Family
Besides Jesus, no other relationships matter more. It's easy to take family for granted and it's easy to harbour grudges for past history. It takes a conscious effort to make sure this doesn't happen and very often, that means that I need to swallow some pride and apologize when I'm wrong. My goal has been and is to have meaningful relationships with my parents, my brother and my sister. I like to spend at least a little time every day with each family member, even if it just to ask how the day went. A little daily affection goes a long way.

3. Girlfriend
Well, this is an empty position on my list at the moment and eventually this item will merge with the priority above, of course. A casual dating relationship would not rate this high on my list but that's not what I want to have. A girlfriend that I love and intend to marry would definitely be both a great treasure and a great responsibility for me. In the meantime, I tend to devote this time to ministry. Speaking of which...

4. Ministry
In my case, this usually means either discipleship or worship music. My role as a Big Brother and my role as a percussionist and singer are the two main aspects of this. Evangelism and caring for people would also fall into this section consistantly for me, though simply being a friend is sometimes enough in that regard. And yes, I do consider this to be more important than work or my career. I think that anyone that gets to do their ministry on a professional basis is blessed.

5. Employment
As a computer programmer, I love what I do for a living. I've been in this career for almost seven years now and while I never thought I would be doing this kind of thing for so long, I'm glad that I have. Even better, my experience at work has taught me a lot of valuable lessons about life in general. That being said, I make a point of leaving work at 5:00 pm every weekday. I do work some overtime once in a while these days because of my responsibilities as manager but I make sure that I take corresponding time off to make up for it.

For me, one of the principles that I follow is that my job and my ministry should never be more important to me than my relationships. Even doing something for God rings hollow if it takes away from the ones we love. It's far too easy to let work and ministry take precedance and I don't just walk away from that danger - I run. Very few things scare and disgust me as much as this idea.

6. Friends
There's nothing like the give and take of a close friend, that regular flow of trust of someone to confide in. Much of the time, this conveniantly accomodates my lesser priority of entertainment but I see this as more of a weekly or semi-weekly activity. As an introvert, it's actually a pleasure for me to hide out from the world and enjoy being by myself. Boredom is never a real concern for me when I'm solo but I recognize that I need to make sure that I don't seclude myself. My friends can always brighten my day.

So what does your list of priorities look like?