Suggestions for Making the Gospel a Priority

As promised! Here are what I have in my notes for some simple, practical, yet effective ways to put the Gospel back where it belongs: at the TOP of the list of your priorities, and at the CENTER of your life.

Why? Because, as Barbara Hughes says throughout chapter 2,

"When we are born again, life starts to make sense."

 "...the Gospel is not just one more thing you schedule into your day planner or kitchen calendar. The Gospel shapes everything about you. The discipline of the Gospel is coming to God on His terms...As women who understand and embrace the Gospel, we find God's Word so dynamic that it at once defines us, satisfies us, and motivates us."*

I did not take the best notes of what others said, so please ADD YOUR THOUGHTS in the comments if you would like! It would be much appreciated!

1. Cut out or cut down things in your life that are detrimental to your walk with God. 


Do you spend more time watching TV/movies or logging into Facebook or other online activities than you spend with God? Are those things that you put before your eyes--viewing or reading materials--honoring to God, or do they draw you farther away from him? What about your music? Are there people that you spend time with that are pulling you farther away from God? Spend some time evaluating how you spend your time, and what you listen to/read/watch, and your relationships. 


In my own life, I have found it absolutely essential to be careful what music I am listening to and what I watch. I try to REPLACE those things that are detrimental to my spiritual life with things that are spiritually encouraging, such as sermons or clean movies, or, best of all, time alone with God. It's great to get rid of things, but you have to fill that void with something. The more you fill your life with the things of God, the more you want to spend your time with Him. (See Ephesians 4:17-32 and Colossians 3:1-17 for what it means to put on the "new self" and to pursue the things of God).


2. Commit to memorizing Scripture. 


This has to be one of the easiest ways to make the Gospel more of a priority--to dedicate yourself to hiding God's Word in your heart! When you memorize Scripture, the Holy Spirit uses that! He will bring to your mind verses you need to cling to when you go through trials and temptations...and every day life! 


You could print verses you'd like to memorize and hang them around the home where appropriate. For example, I have Proverbs 25: 24 hanging in my kitchen, "It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife." I have often seen people post Philippians 4:8-9 by their TV or computer. In college our RA posted verses in the bathroom. If you see them every day, you will eventually commit these verses to memory! 


3. Be active in the community of believers. 


Being a part of a church family is so important. During the church services you are communing with God, through the preaching of the Word, through prayer, through celebration of the sacraments, and through worship. What better way to meet with God than with your brothers and sisters in the Lord? Those people that are in your community are there to encourage you, to lift you up, to weep with you when you weep and to rejoice with you when you rejoice...and you are to do likewise. God has given us a wonderful gift in our church family. 

But your church family is not your Sunday-only family. Take advantage of what is offered--Sunday School, Catechism, Bible Studies, fellowship meals, etc. Spend time with your church family throughout the week. As you prepare for worship and for discussion in the studies you should find yourself in the Word more and more. 


See Acts 2:42-47,  Ephesians 4:1-16, and Hebrews 10: 24-25 for more on the church. 


Personal hint: I find that I am better able to retain information from sermons and studies if I take notes!


4. Put it on your schedule. Find an accountability group/partner.
Still having trouble making the Gospel a priority? Having trouble getting into the Word? 


If you have a busy life, with work and family, and you find that your quiet time with God is nonexistent, consider getting up earlier or staying up later. Make a commitment to get it done! 


For some, it may be helpful to find a friend or two or three to join you in this commitment. Meet together and spend time faithfully studying God's Word, in depth. Pray for each other. Bear one another's burdens. There are a few of us at SFURC who do just that, and it has been an incredibly edifying and educational experience! 


Some suggestions for your quiet times:

• Sometimes it is hard to know where to start! Thankfully Barbara Hughes has included some helpful suggestions in the appendices of Disciplines. Starting on page 219, she suggest hymns to include (either singing or reflecting...hymns have beautiful, rich theology that should not be discounted!), Psalms to read, a calendar for reading through the year, and additional reading materials to help you embrace the Gospel even more. 

• I would also suggest that you take a look at the Catechism (the Heidelberg Catechism is the focus of our current Family Sunday School class). While this is NOT a substitute for God's Word, its question and answer format helps you to even better know the reason for the hope that is in you! Looking up the verses in the footnotes of the Catechism is a great devotional idea as well. 

This is a very long post and there is much more that could be said, but I will end here. I hope this has inspired you to be more active in getting into God's Word and making the Gospel a priority! Please add any more ideas in the comments!

"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." --Colossians 3:17

*Hughes, Barbara. Disciplines of a Godly Woman, p. 25.