Loving Well & Loving Often Sample

 People first, things second

Let’s be real, God is first and when He comes first then people naturally come second, because you can’t get to know Abba without forming a place in your heart for his people. One of the most heartbreaking yet frequent struggles in human relationships is that people don’t always matter more than objects. This struggle comes naturally for us because we’re wired with selfishness.

We think it gives us something. Whether that’s status or just simply more, we think that things add value to us. We start to understand possessions at an early age and with that we learn self interest. Not only do we want what we have, but we want what those around us have as well. And then, ever so slowly, our desire for objects starts to outweigh our desire for people. That’s when we see a shift in our relationships, because greed, envy, and jealousy take the place of support, compassion, and love. 

The truth is that we were not made to store treasure in the things of this world, yet we do daily. Nothing of the flesh comes with us when we leave this earth nor can it make an eternal difference here on earth on it’s own.

We think we earned it. It’s so easy for us to get caught up in “our” possessions because we believe we earned them. I believe that the devil uses these things to get in the way of our ability to empathize and care for others. Our perspective of humans change and our minds become more self-centered and self-sustaining by the minute. When our possessions and desires to be looked at a certain way become strong, they cloud our ability to see what holds real value. People are first. They should always be first. People matter more than any object or status that this world can supply.

We are made to love Christ, and we are made to make disciples of all. When our eyes are set on Abba our hearts will follow.

Challenge: Make a conscious effort to value humans over objects this week.