Who Do You Love The Most?

“Who do you love more, Mommy?”

My oldest daughter used to throw this question out at me daily when she was a few years younger.  Only fifteen months separate her and her middle sister; a three year gap between her and her youngest sister. Competition for mom’s attention was fierce in the preschool/toddler days.  (It kinda still is.) She was seeking an edge. A way to one up her little sisters.  Bragging rights of being “Mom’s favorite”.

And moms, we get this question so often from our children! You probably don’t even blink before spouting out, “I love you all the same!” Because, really, we do.  There’s no way you could possibly pick one child over another if you happen to have more than one kiddo in your family. Sure, there might be moments in your day when you might feel a bit closer to one child because perhaps, they were the only one who was behaving well that morning or maybe they were extra cuddly with you that afternoon.  For example, when little Susie dumps a whole bottle of yellow mustard on the neutral carpeting in her bedroom and doesn’t tell anyone. (Ahem, ahem.  Not that I would know from experience.) You may struggle with what just happened, but a second later, she hugs you and all is right again. 

But this time, when my daughter asked me the question, I didn’t give her the usual “mom answer”.  This time I took a minute and with the prompting of the Holy Spirit, I responded...

“Honey, I love Jesus the most.”

She looked at me puzzled. In her mind, Jesus wasn’t even an option. 

“But what about daddy?” she asked me.

“Sweetheart, I love daddy, and you, and your sisters too!  But I love Jesus the most.  Jesus died for me.  Jesus loves me more than you do, more than your sisters do, even more than daddy does! And you know what else?  The Bible tells me that I’m supposed to love Jesus the most.  Because if I don’t keep Jesus first, everything else in my life will fall apart.  I wouldn’t be a good mommy.  And I wouldn’t be a good wife to daddy. And that wouldn’t be good at all, right?”

She looked at me and let it all sink in for a second. 

“Does Daddy know?”

“Yes, baby, he knows.  In fact, Daddy loves Jesus more than he loves me too! And that’s fine with me.  That’s exactly how it should be.”

She pondered this thought for another minute...

“Ok,” my daughter exclaimed and bounced off on her merry way.

How about you ladies?  Who do you love most?  We have been learning at West Ridge through the “Better Together” Series that we need to keep God first, then our husbands, then the kids, and everything else comes after that.  So let me just ask... Is Jesus coming first in your heart?

I’m not perfect.  I struggle sometimes making God a priority when my day is full of running errands, laundry, homework, meal prep, cleaning the house (ok, I’m exaggerating about the cleaning the house part, lol!), sports practices, and sometimes more! But my relationship with God is important to me.  I want to keep Him first.  So if the laundry doesn’t get done because I need to spend some quiet time alone with my Lord, so be it.  The time I spend reading the Word and praying builds my relationship with God, keeping me focused on Him.  And that is not a waste of time in the least.  Just like any relationship, it can’t grow deeper unless you put time into it, making sure to talk and listen, giving it the proper place in your life. 

You know, it’s true, if God doesn’t come first...  If Jesus isn’t #1.... everything else will crumble.  You won’t be the best wife, or mother, or employee... You will not be the best YOU that you can be!  You will be distracted, unfocused, exhausted, ineffective, fearful...  I could go on but I think you get the picture. 

Sweet friends, I want to encourage you today if God isn’t your first love, consider doing some shuffling in your heart.  Your husband, family, career will only benefit from coming up second, third, fourth place to our Savior.  When we seek God first, giving Him the proper place in our lives, HE will take care of the rest!

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you.” Matthew 6:33 (NIV)