Getting Your Priorities Straight
Think of joy as an acronym: J.O.Y. (Jesus, others, yourself). This will help you‐as it has me—to put your priorities in order. It may seem counterintuitive to see that you are in third place, but that’s the only way it works.
1. Jesus
Of course, God has to come first. Nothing can come before Him. Nothing can take His place (Dt 6:4). Our lives, our existence is ordered at the adoration of God. We are made by Him and for Him. He is the source of all the good in us. We can’t do anything without Him. We can’t even take our next breathe if He does not will it.
God is love (1 Jn 4:8). Jesus became man to show us God. Jesus is a giver. He gave Himself to us in the manger, on the cross, and on the altar. He never stops giving, even when it hurts. His gift of love—of Himself—is more important even than life itself. Through Him we are no longer slaves, but sons and daughters. He has brought us into the family of God (Gal 4:7).
2. Others
Through our worship and adoration of God we are made more like Him. He gives us grace which helps us to be created anew in His image (Gn 1:26). The purpose of our lives is to become saints—”little Christs”. When we are conformed to Him and His will, we think as He thinks, we do as He did, we love as He loved. Part of that love is to become a giver as He is.
Giving is more than just financial contributions, but giving of yourself: your time, talent, and treasure. Everything you are, everything you have, everything is His. He created it. He gave it to you. And just as He has given all for you, including Himself, so you too must give to others. Not just the goody-two-shoes sense of “being a good person”, but in the complete gift of self for the good of the other. That’s what it takes to be a saint. When we talk about others, that includes everyone: family, friends, spouse, children, co-workers, government office employees, the lady at the DMV window, the homeless guy asking for change for “food”. We can’t discriminate. Jesus didn’t.
3. Yourself
Finally, you have to love yourself too. This is not the disordered, destructive, self love that I wrote about a few weeks ago. This requires you to be honest with yourself, to care for yourself: mind, body, and soul. Our love of God and neighbor requires selfless acts of love. It requires that we die to ourselves, that we lose our lives. But this doesn’t mean that our lives are any less valuable than the poor, the sick, the marginalized. You too are precious in God’s eyes (Isaiah 43).