Put God First




A quote from our class readings impressed me so strongly this week that I’d like to focus my post on it. 

“When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place 

or drop out of our lives.”  

~Ezra Taft Benson

When I Googled “Put God First,” another famous person is currently noted for spreading that exact message.    In his speeches to graduating students, Denzel Washington makes the point that first and foremost you should put God first in your life and everything that you do.  Then he goes on to list other worthy points for meaningful and successful living.  I bring that up because this isn’t just an LDS or even Christian principle. 

I completely believe in this principle.  Sometimes our lives and our problems can get very complicated.  When that happens, it’s great to have experts to turn to who have spent lives and careers on finding proven answers and ideas to help us untangle things.  This is a class on marriage, and marriages are imperfect and messy. The class has textbooks and materials that are proven to help strengthen and even save marriages.  The message of putting God first is one of simplifying.  If you’re on information overload, putting God first is a basic step in bringing peace to your life and sorting out problems.  It’s a place to start when you don't even know where to start.  And if you’re very successful at applying that principle, then it just may be the only step you really need to take.  As the quote says, “all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives.”  That would certainly pare things down before we try to solve every imperfect issue we’re confronted with.

So the idea I’m trying to articulate is that all of the books and experts that have answers to our problems, marriage and otherwise, are worthy of our attention and study.  But it’s a true principle that if we put God first, those problems, whatever they may be, will be a lot easier to identify and work on. And, as noted by the two advocates of this idea, as well as other wise individuals, we may even find that those problems and difficulties take care of themselves or disappear altogether.

Photo: Ezra Taft Benson, http://www.dailymormonthoughts.com/search/label/Benson%20Ezra%20Taft
Photo: Denzel Washington, https://www.movieguide.org/news-articles/hollywood-actor-denzel-washington-tells-students-put-god-first.html

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