Jesus Others You
Do you have true JOY this Christmas season? If not, could it be that your J.O.Y. Priorities are not in the right order? Joy Priorities are the order of importance in which you place Jesus, Others, and Yourself. All to often we have our priorities completely mixed up.
Take a look at the combinations below and see where you may stand.
JOY = Jesus Others You – This combination will find us the most joyful.
JYO = Jesus You Others – This combination will find us saved, yet religious and confused.
YOJ = You Others Jesus – This combination will leave us feeling lost and the most miserable.
YJO = You Jesus Others – This combination will leave us self-righteousness and disgruntled.
OJY = Others Jesus You – This combination will leave us lonely and exhausted.
OYJ = Others You Jesus – This combination is a sign of true emptiness and leaves us filled with anxiety and depression.
For an explanation of these J.O.Y. Priorities please keep reading:)
JOY = Jesus Others You – This combination will find us the most joyful. Contrary to popular opinion there is great joy in this priority combo. When we fill up on Jesus first, we ARE taking care of ourselves. We are ensuring that we have all the wisdom, energy, love, guidance and strength needed to face any day. Then when we give to others, God’s way, we are sowing into their lives and the benefits we reap from that will be returned to us without measure. We benefit from giving to others in this life as well as in our heavenly life to come. Lastly, as we focus on our growth, as well as our purpose, we WILL be blessed as we live in God’s will. It’s a WIN – WIN- WIN situation!
JYO = Jesus You Others – This combination may find us saved, yet religious. It fails to bring true joy because true inward joy is not based on religious acts alone. Filling up at the Master’s Table is wonderful, but this combo often finds us becoming spiritually fat, while others around us are hungry and in need. We can quote scripture and never miss a Sunday service but sharing our faith, ministering to the needs of others, and actively pursuing a life of service come last on our list. It is possible to go through the motions of Christianity without truly being like Christ who was always about the Father’s business and not His own. We are made to fulfill a purpose. Maturity realizes that purpose is not about serving ourselves. This combination is more like the Pharisees, Sadducees, Chief Priests and Scribes. It does not lead to a joyful life.
YOJ = You Others Jesus – This combination will leave us feeling lost and the most miserable. Anytime Jesus comes last there can be no real lasting joy. Anytime we exalt ourselves above everyone and everything we will always be empty, needing more and more to fill us, because we have so many needs. When we focus on ourselves first, we rarely get around to seeing to the needs of others and almost never get around to Jesus. We don’t possess enough knowledge, wisdom, power, or patience within ourselves to live a joyful life. This combination is a very “self” filled life. This does not lead to lasting joy.
YJO = You Jesus Others – This combination will leave us self-righteous and disgruntled. The lens through which we judge life is first filtered by our own limited understanding and then we tend to use Christ to justify our own thinking. The people around us don’t stand a chance! We generally find fault with everything and everyone. We tend to pray our will and not God’s will be done. We find that our situations never change, and we just can’t seem to pinpoint why. Discouragement, depression, and a feeling of hopelessness set in. These feelings leave no room for joy in our hearts.
OJY = Others Jesus You – This combination will leave us lonely and exhausted. We can’t give to others what we do not have ourselves. Trying to please others above Christ will leave us broken and a battered since people are so fickle. People, in general, are needy and it can be impossible to find balance in life when others are our primary focus. Oftentimes others will take up so much of our time, energy and resources that we really don’t have time for Jesus or ourselves. We will find ourselves giving and giving and giving. We will even think we are doing it for God, but when God is not the leader, we simply find ourselves struggling to do His job. Because we are not God, we often do more harm than good and depleting us of all our resources. Joy can never be attained in this fashion.
OYJ = Others You Jesus – This combination is a sign of true emptiness and leaves us filled with anxiety and depression. There is a misplaced focus on the source of wisdom, guidance, and strength. Looking to please others and then trying to find our own happiness while putting Jesus last will leave us empty every time. We are not God, but this combination is a sign that we are trying to be. It always leads to failure. Putting others first means that we have many little gods and anxiety is inevitable trying to please everyone. Trying to fulfill our own needs next is exasperating. We rarely get anything accomplished. We settle for the feeling of happiness and yet it is always temporary and oftentimes alludes us altogether. How could we ever possess the peace of true joy with this combination?
Dear Sister, can I be candid with you? I know from experience that we will never have real lasting joy unless the order with which we prioritize is correct. Want to look at JOY more closely? Click here to read Part 2 in this series: J.O.Y. Jesus Did It So Can We https://www.phersonalrevival.com/post/j-o-y-jesus-did-it-and-so-can-we to find out even more.
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