Who is Tops in Your Life?

This morning we chatted about this article from The Christian Post. The Barna Group did a study of 603 Christian women who have attended a regular church service in the last six months. Over half of those surveyed said their family is their top priority while only 16% said it is faith. Similarly, when asked what is their most important role in life, 62% said being a parent and only 13% said it is being a follower of Christ.

What would you have answered?

Have you made your family into an idol and set them above Jesus? What does this look like? Maybe skipping church to get kids to a sports event. Or putting more time into planning a birthday party than into time in prayer (hello, Abby!).

It's tough, right? These little people are right in front of us, calling our name or asking for our attention either verbally or non. But you know as well as I do that Jesus is doing the same thing. He's right in front of us. Wanting our attention. God doesn't want us to neglect our kids or husbands, but it's true that when we put God first, He will give us the grace to be the mothers and wives that we are made to be.

This thought from the article is the take-away for me:

I do think it's both instinctual and a bit of a cultural message to put our kids/family first. So how does the church help us put faith above everything we care most about that sits right in front of us? We have to help women understand there is a great richness in our roles as wives, moms, executives, ministers, etc., when we put our faith first. When that happens, we stop asking our families, friends and jobs to be our everything and start enjoying them as a relationship without the burden of defining us. To do it this way brings a new freedom.