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Family Priorities 2

Discussion in 'Other Discussions' started by SGO, Feb 20, 2021.

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  1. SGO

    SGO Well-Known Member

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    This is the 2021 edition of the archived Family Priorities thread which I thought was very insightful.

    For a Christian in this order:

    God

    Wife or Husband (depending)

    Children

    Church
     
    #1 SGO, Feb 20, 2021
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  2. JonC

    JonC Moderator
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    I think it depends on how "Church" is defined (and perhaps the context of "priorities").

    Thus reminds me of Tozer.

    A.W. Tozer was a very influential man of God. He took great care of his church. He was utterly devoted to God.

    But by all accounts he was a horrible husband and father. After his death his wife expressed an entire marriage of loneliness and neglect. One of his sons referenced his mother (Tozer's wife) as a single parent.
     
    #2 JonC, Feb 20, 2021
  3. SGO

    SGO Well-Known Member

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    Oh, that is sad to hear if true.

    Here is a possibly sanitized version:

    A. W. Tozer - Wikipedia
    Tozer had seven children, six sons and a daughter.[6] Living a simple and non-materialistic lifestyle, he and his wife, Ada Cecelia Pfautz, never owned a car, preferring bus and train travel. Even after becoming a well-known Christian author, Tozer signed away much of his royalties to those who were in need.

    Prayer was of vital personal importance for Tozer. "His preaching as well as his writings were but extensions of his prayer life," comments his biographer, James L. Snyder, in the book, In Pursuit of God: The Life Of A.W. Tozer. "He had the ability to make his listeners face themselves in the light of what God was saying to them," writes Snyder"

    Did you get a chance to read the original thread?
    Good discussion and not all one sided.
     
    #3 SGO, Feb 20, 2021
  4. rlvaughn

    rlvaughn Well-Known Member
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    I read most of the posts in the other thread, which I think had some very good points.

    This priority list made me think of something I read years ago. Been so long I can't remember the details, but it was a change of mindset. Instead of thinking of a top down list in which each item gets progressively further away from God (on the list), conceive of a circle with God in the center and each person/thing on the list equally distanced from God. That may not make sense, but perhaps I can find where I read that and try to explain it later.
     
    #4 rlvaughn, Feb 20, 2021
  5. JonC

    JonC Moderator
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    No, I didn't see the original thread. I'll check it out.

    I also noticed that Ada Pfautz never owned a car, "preferring" to walk in the Chicago winter and take public transportation. She would later describe a life of poverty. The church would try to take care of them. Tozer would refuse raises, and any additional monies given him he would put in the Church offering.

    Still, he was an outstanding minister. I have profited from his books. And no preacher is perfect.
     
    #5 JonC, Feb 20, 2021
  6. Van

    Van Well-Known Member
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    One of my prior Pastors used this line in a Sunday Morning sermon, God does not want to be your highest priority, He wants to be your only priority.

    One possible meaning might be the fallacy of competing priorities. If we must put God on the back burner while we deal with another priority, our priorities are misaligned.
     
    #6 Van, Feb 20, 2021
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  7. rlvaughn

    rlvaughn Well-Known Member
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    #7 rlvaughn, Feb 20, 2021
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  8. PeacefulLove

    PeacefulLove New Member

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    I think God needs to be the center priority and everything else flows outward. We make our spouses a priority because of scripture (especially Ephesians 5). We make children a priority because they are gifts from God and our duty to care for those gifts properly. Our jobs/careers are a little further out, although we use those things to support our families and contribute to God's work here on earth. I don't think of these things as linear. God is always at the center. For me, as a single (involuntarily)* woman, God is in the center. The next "ring" would be my family, my children and grandchildren. The third ring would probably be my critters (2 cats, 1 dog), the fourth ring would be my job, and everything else is outside of that. God in the center also means church, ministry, personal devotions, those sorts of things.

    *I am involuntarily single because the Lord chose to call my husband home long before I expected.
     
    #8 PeacefulLove, Feb 20, 2021
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  9. canadyjd

    canadyjd Well-Known Member

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    God first concerning your personal life

    God first concerning your spouse

    God first concerning children

    God first concerning church

    God first concerning work.

    peace to you
     
    #9 canadyjd, Feb 24, 2021
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