by Dr. Grant Kaul (an excerpt from the book Life-Giving Discipleship, ©Grant Kaul, 2025)
Have you considered just how much more purposeful life could be if you had a clear sense of your life priorities? Without clarity about what matters most, especially what God is calling you to focus on, you are far more likely to miss key opportunities and fail to maximize your unique potential. Simply put, the priorities we pursue shape the lives we live.
Why Life Priorities Matter
Establishing and writing out your life priorities is a way of asking God to bring clarity and focus to your most important pursuits as a disciple of Christ. Like me, I am sure you have discovered there are limits to what you can focus on in a given week, a single year, and certainly a lifetime.
Few things bring greater clarity than knowing, remembering, and faithfully pursuing the priorities God has placed on your life. Taking the time to identify and live out your priorities is one way you fulfill the Apostle Paul’s inspired words in Ephesians 4:15-16, “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”
The Benefits of Knowing and Living Out Your Life Priorities
When you know what’s most important, you are free to focus on what truly matters rather than being driven by the tyranny of the urgent. Stating your priorities clearly and reviewing them regularly helps you wisely steward your time, energy, and resources. These stated values serve as a compass when facing competing interests or critical decisions.
They are especially valuable during moments of uncertainty, whether you are in a season of transition, discouragement, or significant life change. Your priorities help you recalibrate and remember what God has uniquely called you to do.
Living out your values intentionally brings renewed energy and productivity. It keeps you from spending your life on what ultimately does not matter and helps you pour yourself into what does. Reminders refresh us, and priorities direct us.
An Illustration Highlighting the Importance of Priorities
To illustrate the importance of priorities, imagine taking a large empty jar and filling it to the top with rather large rocks. The jar may appear full, but in reality, you can add smaller pebbles to fill in the gaps between the rocks. One may conclude that the jar is full, yet you could pour sand into the jar to fill the space between the big rocks and smaller pebbles and even pour in some water afterward. However, if you fill the jar with sand first, there will not be room for the rocks. And if you pour in only pebbles, the largest rocks won’t fit at all.
Think of the large rocks as representing those priorities that are most important to you. The pebbles are important interests but less valuable than your top priorities. The sand and water represent the many inconsequential things in life. If we begin by putting sand in the jar, there will be no room for the rocks or pebbles. Or if we only focus on the pebbles, the substantial rocks will never fit. The same happens when we pour all our energy and time into the inconsequential things or even the somewhat important matters; ultimately, we will not have room for what matters most.
Examples of Life Priorities
Identifying and asking God to help me intentionally live out my life priorities has been one of the most significant practices in my life. I have fallen short of these priorities on multiple occasions, but the Lord uses my established life priorities to help me remember and refocus on what matter most. For your consideration, here are my life priorities:
“My life is my ministry”
- Grow in a mature relationship with God
- Manifest the character of Christ
- Enjoy a meaningful relationship with my wife and family
- Maintain a healthy lifestyle
- Engage in a missional and meaningful disciple-making ministry
Bob Marlin articulates and actualizes another example of time-tested priorities for life. Here are his life priorities with a few of his additional comments for each one:
- My spiritual maturity
(I was immature in dealing with adversity and had to learn to embrace everything God allowed into my life as necessary … specifically to help others down the road)
- Nurture my family
(my wife, children and grandchildren are my calling, I am to lead, provide and protect them … make sure they know that God is sovereign, and I am their anchor and show them how to hold on tight and wait on the Lord in life’s storms)
- Balance my life
(including looking out for my physical health … my toughest challenge and where I feel least adequate)
- Serving others
(this has taken many forms, but largely behind the scenes and in small groups or “one on one” relationships)
- Being a good employee and earning a living
(God leading me to the shepherd role and away from temptations that would have done me harm)
- Finishing well
(God removed earning a living from my priorities, turned it into a stewardship responsibility … while reminding me that there is no fool like an old fool, just go read about the Book of Kings again)
How You Can Live With Greater Intentionality
In the days and weeks ahead, take time to talk with God, reflect on Scripture, and perhaps seek input from a trusted friend. Begin writing out your life priorities. What are your significant priorities, the values, and pursuits you believe God would have define your life?
These priorities are not merely a checklist; they are a compass—guiding your decisions, focus, and energy as you follow Christ. They help you live not just by good intentions but by Spirit-led intentionality. Your life priorities do not function as a checklist but rather express your life’s primary direction and orientation.
For additional examples of different people’s life priorities, go to www.LivingOutLIFE.org. You, too, can live with great intentionality by investing time and effort in identifying, recording, and regularly revisiting the central values God has given you. When you know and live out your life priorities, you gain clarity, direction, and a deeper sense of fulfillment in your walk with God. Make the most of your days by living out the priorities of your life.
