What Comes First?

What comes first of your list – God or family? I was asked this question in an attempt to settle an argument. My answer is God, without a doubt. One person didn’t agree, he thinks family should be number one. With curiosity of his reasoning, I asked why.

His thoughts were that they are here with you, you spend time with them in person and you have a strong relationship with them. All were interesting points.

Then, he asked what my reasoning was. I explained that He created each of us and the love in that is unfathomable.

The point was also made by one of my roommates that there are many different types of love. There is the love you feel for your friends, a love that you have for your family, a love that you will one day have for your spouse and a different love for your children someday. In the same way, the love we have for God isn’t comparable to that of which we have with relationships on earth. In English, we just have the word ‘love’, but in other translations of the Bible, there is a different word for the different types of love. And I think this makes it harder for us to fathom the immeasurable love of our Heavenly Father.

The question was then asked if you had to choose between God or your family right now, which would you choose? Again, without a doubt, I would choose God because our family is here and now, but God is everlasting and Heaven is our goal for eternity.

After thinking about the conversation later in the day, I thought of more points I would have liked to have talked about.

God created the Heavens and the Earth. He breathed the breath of life into you and sent His One and Only Son as the sacrifice for each person’s sin.

John 3:17 says, For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

John 17:16 says, They are not of this world, even as I am not of it.

And one of my favorite verses, Romans 12:2 says, Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.