Family First

Photo courtesy of  Morgue File

In today's society, I hear so many mothers state, "I cannot wait to get away from my children". It makes me feel sad for both the mothers and the children. Thanks to today's society, women feel that they would be better off outside the home working--away from their family--than being home and being there for their family. Now I am not saying that women should not work. If at all possible, it is better to be a stay at home mom, but if that is not feasible, then find a job that does not take you away from your family as much.

One thing that God started speaking to me about was my priorities as a wife and mother. He showed me that for the longest time, my priorities were in the wrong place. My job and all the things I wanted took place over raising my family. If you see yourself in that scenario, let me be the first to tell you it is wrong! 

As a wife and mother, your first priority should be God! He comes before anything else in your life. You cannot be the wife and mother that God wants you to be if He does not come first in your life. After God comes your husband. If he is not next in your priorities, that is where part of your problems lie! God designed us to be helpmeets for our men. Your children should not take priority over your man, your job, your desires--none of those things are to be put in priority over the man that God has put as your covering.

The next priority should be your children. I can hear some of you now saying, "but if I don't put my kids at a higher priority, they will think I don't love them". WRONG! My children are a perfect example of that. For the longest time, I put them over and above my husband. When I finally got my priorities right, I sat them down and explained to them how wrong I was for treating their dad that way and I showed them in the Bible where it talks about priorities. Even now to this day, they know the "chain of command" based on God's word! The cool thing is, is that they know we love them with every fiber of our being and they know that God loves them even more than we do.  If you put your family in this order, I promise you, you will see a change!

Some of you may be saying, "But what about my ministry"? Dear lady of God! Your family IS your ministry! It took me the longest time to realize that the things outside of my home are not my main ministry. The caring of my family is my number one ministry that God has given me to oversee. NOTHING is to interfere with that. So if you have yourself spread too thin and you find yourself gone from home more than you are there and your family is suffering--the work you are doing for God is not bringing Him as much glory as it could. 

It is time for you to step back and take a look at your life and all that is going on. Are there things that you have committed to that could be removed in order for you to spend more time at home? Find a way to put your family and your priorities back to the way God would want them to be! It pleases Him so much when we follow His plan for living!