The things of God are love, faith, hope, repentance, service and wisdom. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 11, Paul the Apostle said that the things of God are understood through the Spirit of God.

In the same verse, Paul also said that the things of man are understood by the spirit of man. What are the things of man? The things of man might be expressed in the search for power, recognition, status, money or lust.

What might we be putting ahead of the things of God?

Do we honor the things of God, or do we honor the things of man? Do we try first to please our employers, our spouses, our parents, or do we try first to please God? And what difference does it make anyway? After all, we're often not rewarded for making altruistic or honest choices. We're often not measurably or immediately rewarded for choosing the things of God at all.

How does putting the things of God first reorder our priorities?

Religious leader, Ezra Taft Benson, expressed it this way. "When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place, or drop out of our lives." In other words, if we put love, faith, compassion and service to others first, our jobs and material possessions either assume their proper places in our lives, or they simply cease to be important to us altogether.

Does God really know us most and love us best?

Certainly there are many people in our lives who love us. The problem is that they cannot help but look at any given situation through their own colored glasses or their own biased lenses. While they may want to have our best interests at heart (and they sometimes do), it is simply not always possible to put our welfare ahead of what they think is best for us.

Does God care about our welfare?

God stands unique in His ability to care first and foremost about our eternal well-being. His sole aim is to bring to pass the salvation of all humankind. So, we place all of our trust in God, and we place measured degrees of trust in those with whom we associate. Does that mean that God cares if your team wins the football game or if you make a fortune? No. It means that He cares about whether or not you become all that He intends for you to become.

How can you find out what God wants for you?

What is God's plan for you? Not your plan or your parent's plan or your spouse's plan or your employer's plan. His plan. We can discover His plan for us as we pray and seek revelation to understand, by the Spirit of God, what is right for us.

Putting God first can change our lives for the better in ways we cannot even anticipate. Learn to let go, and let God.