Priorities in Life

Article No. 28
16/November/2019

Priorities always help a person to make decisions correctly in a fast and fair manner. Absence of priorities in life makes a sophisticated and unenjoyable life experience. Priority means ‘status established in order of importance or urgency’. Serious people have orderliness in their life. Orderliness is an integral component of the personality type of ‘Conscientiousness’ in Big5 personality classification. People, who are conscientiousness that they majorly like to follow the order in life, obey the law, structured in their life etc. Conservative people are high in conscientiousness and low in openness, but liberal people are low in conscientiousness and high in openness. However, serious people always do follow a certain order in their life. They will have a particular preference in their behaviours or actions. Such priorities help them to take proper decision on time without much confusion or uncertainty. Four factors or influencers that mostly in a person’s life are:

Priority No. 4 = Society and World

Culture, public law etc. develop from society, politics and world. These have only the least priority in life for a happy and good person. Here bottom line is ‘Minimum Government and Maximum God’. Our morality and ethics must be based on God’s morality in scripture and rationality. Standards of world’s morality are relative, so it changes it’s slandered on time. Therefore, God’s morality is ultimate and absolute. Thus, society and world view should not influence our decisions and actions more than the other three priorities. Our views and opinion formation must be developed based on putting society and world as the fourth position. So minimally considered should only consider minimally.

Our obligations to society and world will come only after all other higher priorities in life. This preference makes life more stable, satisfied, good and happy with meaningful and purposeful.

Priority No. 3 = Relatives, friends and neighbours

Scripture says that “Do to others as you would have them do to you”. It is the fundamental and basic motto of True Friendship maintenance. True Friendship makes harmony in life. True Friends are not making disappearing of unwelcoming complex, difficult and unpredictable circumstances in life, but they don’t disappear while facing problems. They stay forever and lay down life for a True Friend. True Friend in life, which help to bounce back from life’s inevitable Disappointments, Failures and Pains. Relatives, friends and neighbours play a similar role to a person and family on this planet earth.

Man and woman are as a social being, it is highly needed to relate and connect to the surrounding. It is necessary for a meaningful and purposeful life, also God’s commandments. So our third preference in life’s decisions and actions for relatives, friends and neighbours.

Priority No. 2 = Family

Family is the picture of a mother cooking for someone who loves, it’s the laugh of a baby, the strength of a father. Family is the space of loving hearts, light from happy eyes, kindness, loyalty, love one another. Home is the first school I ever attended. I didn’t go to public school to learn how to pray, how to behave to others, how to keep integrity, how to understand the world, how to distinguish right & wrong, what is good in the sight of God and what is not acceptable in the sight of God and so on. All these I learn preliminary from my parents. Family is the place we go to when hungry, hurt, sick, rejected by the world, feel loneliness. The family will open the doors of heaven. They will anoint our wound with oil with gladness and arms around us. As John Hagee said.

The idea of marriage and relationship is not developed by man but designed by God. So marriage, family, sexual relationship, love, care etc. between husband and wife are God’s idea. For a meaningful and purposeful family, the husband must be head of the family and wife must be a helpmeet to him. It never means the wife is a property of ownership of husband. Every individual is a property of ownership of God Almighty. So husband or wife never need to obey any evil act as the desire of their life partner.

As a family member such father, mother, children, husband or wife, they don’t have any other priority than family except God Almighty. God is the designer of family, God is always above the family. We have to ready to sacrifice anything in this world to create, maintain and protect from any externals. So our decisions and actions must be based on priority at family number two.

Priority No. 1 = God

At the deepest and weakest point of life, we feel that we are alone, all people in this world walk away. Or sometimes the real experience of humiliation and isolation. No one ready to listen to you, it may even your father, mother, siblings, spouse, children etc. Everything is dark and gloomy. No hopes near. Even though we feel everything injustice to us, but we have a father in heaven the God Almighty. Justice of God is not just limited in space or time. The personal relationship with God Almighty is the last resort in life. If we live in a desert place as a single person, we can call God Almighty from there. If we are in the middle of a crowd but feel loneliness, even then God is with you.

As God is the last resort of life, creator of heaven and earth, maker and owner of all things, and in-charge and liable to establish justice and truth; so our first and foremost priority should be the God Almighty. Here, a personal relationship with God is the matter. So the scripture says ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.’ All our decisions and actions must be in accordance with the will and wish of God. In our pivotal point in life or crossroad to pick one option from many, it is the easiest way that just assumes if God Almighty in your place, what will be the choice? Pick that option and go forward. Selecting good and doing right is not an easy task. It needs enormous courage to do. God is good and just. He has no evil and injustice. So, we are expected to not do any evil or injustice even in the sake or desire of any rest of three priorities.

Here, three things are unchangeable for a serious person that one, love God with heart, soul and might, two, do good, and three, do justice and truth. Even If we have any completion from or for family, friends, relatives, society or world, we have obligation to God Almighty to love God in first preference, to do good, justice and truth. As a person or individual all we are alone, even though we have many; we will submit our report individually in the final judgment of God. Then, we will have communion with God forever.

By,

Nithin A F

Doing Post Graduation in Psychology

Thiruvanathapuram, Kerala.

Email : nithinaf@gmail.com

www.NithinAF.blogspot.com

16/November/2019