Forsaking All Competing Priorities
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข When things or people compete for your attention or resources, how do you decide on what to prioritize?ย
โข Think of a time when you had to choose between something you want and something you need. What did you choose and why?
โข Have you ever been in a situation where you had to take a difficult or unpopular stand on an issue? What happened and how did it affect your relationships?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.โ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ด๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ญ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ.โย ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ฎ๐ดโ๐ฏ๐ฌ
Following an interaction between Jesus and a rich young ruler who could not part with his wealth (Mark 10:17โ22), Peter told Jesus that the disciples had left everything to follow Him. In return, Jesus assures them that anyone who sacrifices relationships or possessions for His sake and the gospel will receive abundant blessingsโboth in this life, through the spiritual family and provision found in Godโs kingdom, and in the age to come, eternal life. Today, we will look at three areas where we need to prioritize Jesus.ย
๐ญ. ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐บ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐.
๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ด๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ญ . . .โย ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ฎ๐ต
Jesus said that as His disciples, we must be willing to forsake material possessions for the sake of the gospel. This does not imply rejecting these things entirely, but it emphasizes that nothingโwhether wealth or propertyโshould take precedence over our devotion to Him and His mission. The call to follow Christ includes placing Him above all else, recognizing that His kingdom and His eternal rewards far surpass any temporal resource or comfort. In Philippians 3:7โ8, how did the apostle Paul describe what he had to give up in order to gain Christ?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐บ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ๐.
๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ด๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ญ . . .โย ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ฎ๐ต
Jesus said that blessing awaits those who have left behind familyโparents, children, and siblingsโfor His sake and for the gospel. This does not mean that our family is unimportant. Rather, we need to recognize that devotion to Jesus must come first, even above the people we love deeply. Jesus teaches that the kingdom of God transcends all other relationships, as He is the ultimate source of life and eternal reward. Share a time when you had to prioritize Jesus over your key relationships.ย
๐ฏ. ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ.ย
โ. . . ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ.ย ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ฏ๐ฌ
As His followers, Jesus assures us abundant blessingsโa ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅโin this life, including new spiritual relationships and provisions through the community of believers. However, He also notes that there will be ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, recognizing that following Him often brings resistance and hardship. Despite this opposition, Jesus promises that the temporary suffering experienced for His sake is outweighed by the eternal rewards. How does Hebrews 12:2โ3 encourage us to stay focused on Jesus despite challenges and resistance?
Jesus said that ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต (Mark 10:31). Unlike the world, where status, power, and wealth are often prioritized, the kingdom of God places a higher value on humility, sacrifice, and faithfulness to Jesus. It will require a shift in our prioritiesโplacing Him above possessions, relationships, and comfort. Following Jesus involves both suffering and sacrifice, but the ultimate gainโfellowship with God, abundant life in Him, and eternal lifeโmakes it all worthwhile.ย
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข What are some of the things you value greatly? What would you do differently starting today to show that Jesus is more important to you than these things?
โข Think about the times God has proven Himself sufficient when you had to give up certain things or chose to prioritize Jesus over your other key relationships. Share what God showed you about Himself.ย
โข Do you know someone who is experiencing resistance or persecution for the gospel? Encourage this person and connect him/her with other believers who can provide guidance and strength.
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for blessing you with resources and relationships. Ask God to give you a heart thatโs ready to prioritize your relationship with Him above all these blessings.ย
โข Ask God for the grace to stay focused on Jesus despite resistance. Pray that you stay connected with a community of believers who will stand with you and help strengthen your relationship with God.
โข Ask God to give you open doors to demonstrate His love to the people around you, even to those who may be mocking you or persecuting you for your faith.