What’s First In Your Life?

As we begin our study in Deuteronomy, we are immediately confronted with the question of what is first in our life? Culture or God's Word? #Biblestudy #Deuteronomy #WomensBibleStudy #GoodMorningGirls

The book of Deuteronomy is quoted in the New Testament over 50 times!  Only Psalms and Isaiah are quoted more in the New Testament.  This is not an easy book to study, the detail of the laws along with some of the very long chapters, can bog us down.

Deuteronomy chapters 1-4, gives us a look back at the history of Israel.  It was written in story form as we see the rebellion of Israel and the powerful and miraculous care of God’s people.

We see that our God is stronger and greater than any other!

As we move into chapters 5-30, we move into the list of Israel’s laws.  There is no story line.  This is more of a summary of Moses’ final teaching before they crossed the Jordan and took possession of the Promised Land.

So, let’s begin!

The first set of laws we see laid out are the Ten Commandments.  These are retold in Deuteronomy almost identical to when they were given the first time in Exodus 20, only…it’s 40 years later and to a new generation.

Deuteronomy 5:22 says:

These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

The Ten Commandments are the only laws given directly by the voice of God.  The rest of the laws came from God, through Moses, to Israel.   No other nation had a God who spoke to them!

These Ten Commandmentss are the core commandments.  Let’s look at them in order.

The first 4 commandments refer to our relationship with God:

1.)  You shall have no other gods before Me.
2.)  You shall not make idols.
3.)  You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4.)  Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

The next 6 commandments refer to our relationship with each other:

5.)  Honor your father and your mother.
6.)  You shall not murder.
7.)  You shall not commit adultery.
8.)  You shall not steal.
9.)  You shall not lie.
10.)  You shall not covet.

We see by the order of the Ten Commandments that our morality is based on our theology and our love for God.

Our hearts were made to love and serve the one true God but sin has caused us to place those affections elsewhere.

If we don’t love God, we are loving something else more in His place.

As we break commandments one and two, three and four tend to get broken as well.  And before you know it – we are stair-stepping down through all the commandments breaking them one by one.

Now you may think – hold up – I have never murdered anyone or committed adultery.  But Jesus said in his most famous “Sermon on the Mount” that anger with a brother (likened to hatred) and lust in the heart towards a woman – are both sins liable of the same judgement as murder and adultery!  (Matthew 5:21-30)  Yikes!

The Ten Commandments reveal our sinful hearts and should drive us to Christ.

In Romans 3:20, we see that it is through the law, that we come to the knowledge of our sin. When we review the Ten Commandments, we see that we are guilty of breaking at least one and therefore in need of a Savior.  Jesus fulfilled the law and paid the penalty for all of our sin. When we place our faith in Him we are declared righteous by the blood of the lamb.  (Hallelujah!)

Now we are under grace but not so sin may abound.  We do not live by lists and rules and legalism.

We live by love.

Jesus said the greatest commandment is that we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and…

If we love Him, we will keep His commandments (John 14:15).

Living well comes from loving God.

Godly living is a fruit of our passionate love for God.  This mighty God, whose voice boomed on the mountain as He gave the Ten Commandments, loves you and has called you into a relationship with Him.

There are to be NO other God’s, NO other relationships and NO other pursuits that come before Him.

Is God first in your life today?

Do you love God more than anything else or anyone else in your life?

If not, what has taken His place?

Is it another person – perhaps a child or spouse? Or is it another pursuit – perhaps a career, money or a desire to have a perfect body?  Maybe it’s just simply busyness – crowding out your time and affections for Him.

As the Ten Commandments reveal, our love for God (or lack of love for God) affects our daily living and our daily pursuits.

May we examine our lives right now – pause – pinpoint any places where you are tempted to go astray and put God first in your life today!

**Chime In**

Would you be so bold as to share in the comments what’s first in your life right now?

We all struggle to keep God first – what tempts you to stray?

Commit today in the comments to make God first in your life and all other priorities second to your relationship with Him.

Walk with the King,

Courtney

For a really great explanation of Deuteronomy – check out this video below – it’s a little long, but well worth the time to get a clear overview of the book we are studying together.

For Further Reading
The GMG Leadership Team is Blogging Through the Bible Too! Visit their blogs here:

Becoming a Godly Wife – Bridget
Misty Leask – Misty
Rosilind Jukic – Rosilind
Worshipful Living – Mandy

Available on Amazon now!

Deuteronomy-Girls-SPINEDeuteronomy-Guys-SPINE


 

Good Morning Girls – The Book of Deuteronomy Journal
(for ages 10-110)

Good Morning Guys – The Book of Deuteronomy Journal
(for your sons)
affiliate links

51 Comments

  1. Wow, thanks for this great and difficult post, Courtney!
    I think I put other resources (i.e books about marriage, parenting, etc.) and busyness first. Praying that God will give me the strength to continually put Him first in my life.

  2. This totally hit and shattered me. Am I guilty as charged? Oh yes, so guilty my heart kept pumping as I read through.
    I put my studies and excessive fashion browsing first, it’s so bad that once I put the boys to sleep I stay up till 1 -2 am browsing fashion stores and then I wake up feeling so messed up like an addict.
    I commit todayby the help of the Holy Spirit to pray/study God’s Word every morning and evening and to drop my phone and go to bed at a decent hour in Jesus Name, Amen.

  3. Often, I put myself first with my wants, desires, and comforts rather than worshipful surrender and submission to God’s plan and purpose. “It’s me, it’s me, it’s me, Oh Lord — standing in the need of prayer!”

  4. My children often come first for me! One suffers from depression and occupies a lot of my thoughts. I try to turn her over to God, but still worry way too much! I struggle with trusting God with her life, even though I know He loves her and will take care of her. I’ll keep praying and trying to have COMPLETE trust.

    1. I too have a child who suffers from depression and mental illness. I know how easy it is to get caught up in the worry and anxiety but we have to learn to let go of the worry and let God. The best thing we can do is pray for our children. God knows what is best and he will guide our steps

  5. I put my children first, But I really want God to be the very first in my life. I’m a work in progress. Thank You for this word.

  6. Great video! With the help of the GMGs I am getting so much more out of this book and all the books we have studied than I would have done on my own. Thank you, Courtney and everyone.

  7. There are days I can put Him first but then when life starts getting chaotic, busy, and overwhelming that’s when I feel He gets shoved to the side. I will skip my Bible reading because I don’t have time but in reality, the days I do and really commit to Him things get done and I’m always amazed. Why can’t I keep that up? I am hoping this lesson wakes my heart up for some serious change and it not just be head knowledge or temporary.

  8. Lately I’ve been putting everything first. I will watch reruns on TV, play games on my phone, etc…I am praying for help. Going forward I will make a better attempt to read and study so the holy spirit can come into my heart.

  9. I fell God every day.But I do try to put him first in my life.I have learned that the more you read your Bible the closer you fill to him.I have a hard time understanding the Bible,but I read it everyday.I don’t know how to study.I will keep reading and highlighting and asking him to show me how.I thank the lord for showing me this Bible Study.The people on here are so kind.I love the comments.

  10. I put me first???. Right now I’m home recovering from a total hip replacement, which does require some attention, but many days I sit in my chair with my bible, my bible studies, my prayer journal& I let my mind wonder, I check Pintrest for what thought just popped into my head. Which leads me to FB, or a web search, then a text comes in & I respond. Or I hear the mail arrive so I slowly get up to get it etc… I’m sure you’re getting the picture. But when I do start my prayers & reading the word I absolutely can’t put it down! I can spend several hours reading the word, reading a Christian book & then doing this study with you! So Father God, thank for this beautiful day, thank you for this bible study, thank you for putting it on Courtney’s heart to rebuke us in an attempt to help us draw closer to you father! I pray you would take a way the desires I have for worldly things that I may put before you. Help me to love you like crazy father! With all my heart, body, strength and soul ……in your son’s holy, Holy, HOLY name I pray.

  11. I am a 31yr old woman who have a very difficult husband.I met him when i was 16. I have fallen for him knowing nothing about him. Thought it was true love and struggled in my relationship with him throughout, soon after getting physically involved with him when i was 17. But i am married to him for the past 7yrs. I have two beautiful and wonderful children with him whom i love the most. I failed to love my husband as the man of my life in all these years of relationship with him. I have been a believer of Christ since i was 11yrs old and lean on God when i find no hope. I have been in dire lookout for love and although i know God is Love, i have never been able to logically connect with that thought.I needed someone to hug me, kiss me and love me and truly care for me. I just wanted to put a face to that idea of love. Now, I have fallen in that kind of a love with another man who is also married. I have no intentions of leaving my husband or ruining his marriage. But the idea that he loves me and i love him without expecting anything in return is keeping me sane. I feel so happy that there is a man out there who loves me just the way i am and who i am, expecting nothing in return.
    I know that this is adultery and I should be loving God instead of that other Man to keep myself sane. I dont even know if i have to stop loving that man entirely. I am not able to. I love him so dearly. But i know at the end of the day he is just a human and something about will hurt me at one point if not now. I am not ready to be shattered by that feeling. I lean on God and confess that i love this other man but im not able to stop it entirely as somehow i am convinced its ok.
    In all this i also try to love my husband. I love my family and my parents and my responsibility.
    But my mind is connected to this other man. It used to be all the time before but now i am trying to balance it in and out thinking about him. I dont want to call it an affair as i think this is more of Love than being physical.
    Its a very strange situation but this is where i am.

    1. BTW you are having an affair. BUT you can call whatever you want. It is adultery. You need to get your delusional mind together and put yourself in his wife’s place and ask yourself how you would feel if you were in her place. While your at it ask you own husband how he feels about the whole thing. Find out if he feels like your marriage is ruined.

      1. I needed someone to say this…Thank You! Can you please pray i get out of this like RIGHT NOW? Badly need strength 🙁

        1. Praying for you. Lord help her be strong and sure in making right decisions with her heart and mind. Free her from the bondage of sin and thank you Lord for her honesty and teachable heart. Thank you Lord. Amen.

    2. Wow!! My heart goes out to you! I was married at 17 to my husband of 34 years. It hasn’t always been easy but God has been faithful!! One thing that I’ve learned is that I am not responsible for what my husband does or doesn’t do. But I am responsible for what I do and how I respond to him. I am to obey God no matter what!! You,my sister in Christ,are in a danger zone!! You are having an affair emotionally / physically!!! I know your heart is torn and has great affection for this other man,but you must, just as the Israelite were warned, turn from your sin!!! You can see from this study that God takes sin seriously!!! You say you can’t help yourself but you can. That is a lie from Satan!!! You can do all things through Christ who will strengthen you! Do you have a sister in Christ at church that you can talk to? A pastor? You need to take immediate action!! Think, write down all the wonderful things about your husband! Praise him today verbally even for something small. Go out of your way to be kind to him, love him ect. Hugs and prayers

      1. Thanks for those words Karen. I have not exposed this with anyone till now. I just felt like crying out here. Please keep praying for me even in your small groups. I want to get out of this and will ask God to strengthen me every single day.

        1. I am and will continue to pray for you! If you ever need someone to pray with you can send me a text if you’d like. If I can I will stop and pray for /with you. 815-543-7283

    3. Ohhhh please do get help! I started the same way and now i am divorced. I didn’t know Jesus Christ back then, but you do – so please turn to him and ask for help and you will receive it! It is the enemy who tells you you can play with fire without getting burned. You can’t!! And it hurts!
      But Jesus is stronger.
      I will pray for you!

      1. Thanks Steffi…I will get help from Jesus himself and get out of this…I am so glad i posted this here and i have sisters like you who can feel my heart and can pray for me. Please continue to pray for my situation.

        Love u all!

    4. Praying God would take away the desires you have for this “other” man. Praying you would feel the overwhelming want, to obey Gods commands, the want to flee from this sin, the want to repent of this sin, and want to turn and run to Jesus……you will be forgiven!! Remember, true repentance will have very visible signs like…. you stop seeing this other man immediately, you stop all communication with him immediately, you seek marriage counseling, etc……. I will be praying for you, you can do this!

      1. Thanks Laura…Thats where i am starting…Stopping all communication with him immediately. I cant afford to lose the relationship with my God which i did for the past 1.5yr deliberately. Now i have this urge to walkaway from my sin. I love JESUS and i want to show it in actions. Thanks a lot for all your prayers. I want courage to run away from sin. Please keep praying. I just want this to be easy for him as well.

    5. Have you looked at the Time Warp wife’s blog? She is also connected with Courtney and Women Living Well. Her blog was started to help others in your situation. She had an affair against her husband, and I think you will be able to relate to her and find help reading her blog.
      Blessings!

  12. As a fairly new widow, I put the list of things to do ahead of God sometimes. It can be overwhelming with work, kids, inside chores, outside chores, blogging, etc. I know when I get overwhelmed that I have put the LIST ahead of Jesus. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
    Then I refocus and get His agenda for each day instead of mine.
    Great post! Thanks!

  13. Thank you for sharing this. I love the video at the end that helps put everything together.

    I often find myself putting family (kids) and selfish time (sleep) before God. I try so hard to attempt to stop putting things before God but often catch myself driffting back into old habits. This is something I am always in prayer about and a work in progress.

  14. The regret of my impulsiveness and sharp tongue with my family members . It has caused a chasm that is hard to knit back together. My self condemnation is first in my thought patterns each morning – even with His helmet to guard my mind.

    1. While we do need to watch our tongues and be responsible with how we speak to others. To wake up each morning in condemnation is not healthy or beneficial to you.
      When you do lash out, speak critical to others, etc. , be quick to say your sorry to your family members and to God. Even if the family memeber is a small child, they can learn from you that there is always a need to repent when we have done wrong. Then get busy with other thoughts and don’t go back and beat yourself up for your mistakes. We are to live in the present , not the past , or the future . God forgives us ,and we need to forgive ourselves too.

  15. wow now that I read this, I think how each morning I pray, but the mistake I always do first is grab that phone and check fb, messages, etc. Need to stop that, what I must do first is pray! Then the rest happens next.

    1. Soo identify with you here. And I always get convicted in my heart about it. It’s kinda tricky when u use for phone for everything like everyone ur alarm to wake up & so it’s naturally the 1ST thing ur hand touches 🙁 But we must change! I put God 1st & my husband next & children & then minstry. (IDEALLY)
      But if im gonna speak from actuality – probably is Social Media, Family, God. Makes me sick to think of that.. but I pry Father that u correct my actions that they may follow what My heart desires & your word commands. IN JESUS NAME. ♡

  16. This post was great, I never saw the 10 commandments broke down like that before, then the Question of what am I putting first… My house. lately I have been so busy spring cleaning, getting the yard prepared, reorganizing things, wanting walls painted. that my time off is spend on the house, which I never have no one over. I have drove my kids crazy and husband is waiting for me to leave on a mission trip to get a break from the honey to do list. Lord, I give up my house to you cause if I keep putting it first you become second and I refuse to have that happen.

  17. Thank you so much for this study!!! I am tempted to put my kids first. God has been working with me on this for the past several months. Not easy but I am growing! ☺

  18. ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE VIDEO!!! THANK YOU FOR POSTING IT!! SO MUCH TRUTH!! THE MORE I STUDY THE HEBREW LANGUAGE AND CULTURE THE MORE I UNDERSTAND. THANK YOU COURTNEY!!

  19. Oh my, was this ever convicting! I put my children before God, and I do it all the time. I feel so ashamed, I know I am to put God first and there have been times when I have been so proud of myself for remembering to. I have also been quick to suggest it to other women as well. Oh Heavenly Father! Please forgive me for not putting You first, all the time, and for acting proud when I did “remember” to. Forgive me also for easily pointing out to others what they were doing wrong, when I couldn’t see because of the plank in my eye. Strengthen me and help me in my quest to always put You first. In Jesus’s name I pray, AMEN!

    Thank you so much for this post Courtney! You have held me accountable, and made me really examine and repent (publicly) from a pretty ugly part of myself. I feel that doing so here, will make me be accountable to all you ladies, and that will cause me to be more focused on achieving it. God bless all of you!

  20. I think we all have good intentions with God & start a new week, month, year out committed to solidly reading the Word, praying, putting Him first in every area of our lives without fail…Oh how Our creator God knows us better than we know ourselves.

    Especially when we have the pressures & busyness of a married family life, & all that comes with that, we feel worn out & agitated etc.

    Even when I feel I’m not doing everything absolutely right in my eyes, in God’s eye I must be doing something right because He still answers my prayers on specifics – just this past month, after 3 years of praying about something it seemed was never going come to fruition, it has amazingly been answered – this included a number of interchangeable events literally coming together at the same time. Honestly my praying on this matter wasn’t as consistent as I would have liked (though I would add, it was always in faith) – but God reads the prayers of our hearts before even our verbal praying.

    He knows we are weak, that we are frail, that we get easily distracted, that we can’t keep our commitments to Him – especially when we are pushed to the limit & stressed out, which can be totally unavoidable at times.

    He just wants us to humble ourselves before Him – our Almighty God; & to recognize who He is as sovereign Lord of our lives & to call on His Son’s name Jesus. I’m so thankful for Gods grace & mercy to us His children, that He has paid all our sin debt in full, when I’m so undeserving, & unworthy yet I’ve now been made worthy through His atoning blood & I am now seated with Christ. Awesome!

    1. Just thought it’s important to add that God will only answer the prayers of a person who is Born Again – in other words who have put their trust in the death, burial, and ressurection of Christ to forgive them of their sins, leading to them being filled with the Holy Spirit.

      The only prayer that God will ever answer to an unbeliever is for them be saved from sin, through their belief & trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

        1. John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

          Acts 16:31 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

          Psalms 145:18 The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

          John 9:31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.

          Proverbs 15:29 The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.

          Proverbs 1:28-29 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord

  21. Thank you for this post, yes I do put all things first, My Husband, my son, school work. But today I pray my Lord and savior to forgive me and I put you first in my life.

  22. I have certainly crowded Our Lord out of my life, as I have tried to follow my own battle to fulfil my wants/dreams. I am now trying adjust that to give Him more time and trust in Him for my future, as I seek the right path to take.

  23. Really a good self-examination and all i can say is ouch! Thanks for sharing! This is going to be a question i am going to ask myself every day now.

  24. I admit that I let busyness come first. I let myself get distracted and instead of spending time with God first I look on my phone and read Facebook or start cleaning instead of praying. I don’t know why I allow things to distract me like that because it makes a huge difference in my days when I don’t put God first. Thanks for the reminder to always put God first and this awesome study.

    1. Ashley, I can definitely relate to that. Sometimes it’s like I wear busyness like a badge of honor. But I’m just crowding out what’s better. Thanks for sharing, it’s encouraging to know we’re not fighting alone.

  25. I put life first most of the time. I try very hard not to, but it’s so chaotic at times. I pray for myself to trust, and have faith, but it is hard at times. I have prayed for my daughter for years, and it seems like nothing has happened. So, I find myself not trusting in God like I should. I’m sure he has answered my prayers, or it could be worse. I wish I had more time to study the bible, and learn. I am really struggling with what’s right and what’s not. My mother is a Jehovah witnesses, and I am Baptist. I struggle with that a lot.

  26. Such an awesome post! I am currently doing my own study through Psalms, but I really needed this. I have recently deleted fb off my phone and tablet because I was addicted to it! Definitely worry and fear are coming before God as well. We have a preemie daughter and I am constantly double checking her to make sure she is breathing ok, etc. and what woman doesn’t struggle with body issues? This world is so hard but our God is so good, thanks for the encouragement today!

  27. Thanks for sharing the post! Wow…it’s just the wake up call that I needed. I put my husband, kids, myself and the busyness of life before God at times. There are times when first wake up, I pray and read my bible. But there are other times when I just have so much to do, that spending time with God gets pushed to the side. I tell myself that I will do it later, but it doesn’t happen.

    I’m committing today to be better at putting God first. I’m trusting that with the help of the Holy Spirit, I will succeed in making God my top priority.

  28. Thank you for this beautiful post, it has really brought a lot of things to my attention. One of them being that I have not been putting God first in my life everyday, even when I’m at church I feel that my mind is wondering off and its not focused on Jesus! I really need to make some changes, and I really would like to serve more at church, and I desire to let JESUS be my number 1 today and every day. I love you Lord, and I desire to seek you wholeheartedly every day, that no other person, and no other thing will ever take your place in my heart. I pray that God leads me in the way that I shall go today and every day

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