Who is Really Number One in Your Life?

Who is Really Number One in Your Life?

This past weekend, my wife and I participated in a marriage retreat in Seaside, Florida. The retreat was organized through the married couples ministry at our church (Mountaintop Community Church) here in Birmingham, Alabama. The weekend was intended to be an opportunity to re-connect and re-focus on our relationship with our spouse in a biblical manner.

Throughout the weekend, Christy and I learned many skills that should be utilized to enhance our marriage. We learned effective communication techniques, sensitivity skills and other useful tools for a more fulfilling marriage. Overall, the weekend proved to be a great success. Despite all of the learning that took place, one common theme prevailed - "Put God first and everything else will fall into place."

In our modern society, God is often dethroned from his number one spot by our money, our kids, our spouses and even our pets! Why is this? As Christians, (this is assuming your really believe what your say you believe) aren't we supposed to believe that God the provider of everything in our lives? So why is He constantly fighting to be our number one? This should not be the case. God should not share his number one spot with anyone or anything. Not even our spouses.

I truly love my wife Christy. However, for me to love her to the best of my ability, I must put my relationship with God as my top priority. Now, I know some of you reading this post must be thinking, "Larry is crazy! How can he love his wife more by placing her lower on his priority list? That makes absolutely no sense at all!"

Several years ago, I would completely agree with such statements. But, it is amazing how even a small understanding of God's unconditional love can shatter even the smartest man's most solid logic. God's love for us as his children is absolutely and completely unconditional. God's love endures all tribulations and is the only thing beyond God's own character and nature that is unbending and constant. God has loved us despite our sins and inherent flaws that make us selfish and sometimes unapologetic beings. We have spat in God's face a countless number of times over our human history and will continue to do so until Christ's return.

God's love is immeasurable and will never be fully understood by even the most versed man in scripture or even Mother Teresa herself. It is well beyond any comprehension to the human mind or heart. Think for a moment about who you love most here on earth. Think of the love your have for your mother, father, siblings, children and/or your spouse. Do you think it is possible for you to love them more? Would you be willing make sacrifices for them or even die for them? I know many of you reading this post would do so without hesitation. Even at this level, your love for such individuals is only a mere inch in comparison to God's miles and miles of love that he has for you and all of his children here on earth. For many, this is a mind altering concept that takes time to sink in.

All too often, we say that our love for someone is truly unconditional. In reality, we can never love someone unconditionally. Only God has the ability to love unconditionally. The sacrifice he made on the cross over 2,000 years ago is proof. Do you think you could make or even attempt the same? Not likely!

Imagine your spouse turning to you right now and saying the following words, "Honey, I want to tell you something. I have never loved you. In fact, I have cheated on you over one-hundred times and I hope you die a painful and horrible death after we divorce." What would you say to that!?! "Sure honey, I totally understand, but I still love you just as much as the first day I met you..." Not likely!

As part of the human race, we essentially spoke those same words to Christ when he walked the earth. We worshipped and cheated on him with other idols and thereafter placed him upon a rusty and tethered cross to die a painful and inglorious death. For many, Christ was the scum of the earth and was worth less than the ground in which the worms toiled. Despite all this, God still loved us enough to invite us to share in his glory!

Just like an unfaithful and ungrateful spouse, we constantly disrespect God and reject the love He has for us. Even through all of our flaws, He still loves us. God has yet to resend his offer to join Him in his heavenly kingdom. This my friends is true, unadulterated unconditional love! No love like this has and never will be experienced anywhere else.

I openly and proudly say that I can never love my wife as much as God loves her. Likewise, she can never love me to the extent God loves me. Knowing this, it is imperative as Christians to put God at the head of our love tables and to serve Him first. Only by attempting to understand and love him, will we be empowered to channel His love to our spouses.

As husbands and wives we are simply conduits for God's love. In reality, we provide very little of the substance known as love - especially the kind that is unconditional. Only in God will we find such roots. His run deeper than any we find in ourselves.

As a Christian, the only way to love my wife is through God's love for me. If I chose to love Christy on my own terms and through my own rooted love for her, I would be extremely limited. However, by placing my love for her among God's roots, I am no longer limited by my inherent shortfalls.

On closing, it is imperative we put God first in our lives. By doing so, everyone around us will be showered by his influence and enduring affection.


With love and prayers,


Larry Young, Jr.