The Power of Priorities

“Someone may say, ‘I am allowed to do anything,’ but not everything is helpful.” 1 Corinthians 6:12 (GW)

Successful people know what matters, and they don’t waste time worrying about what doesn’t matter.

The apostle Paul said, “I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Philippians 3:13-14 NLT). Paul didn’t dabble in 40 things or pack his calendar. He stayed laser focused on God’s calling to share the Good News of Jesus.

Learning to focus on what really matters in life is a skill—and like any skill, it takes practice.

I don’t have time to do everything I want to do or think I need to do. But the good news is that God doesn’t expect me to do everything. And there are only a few things in life worth doing in the first place.

God hasn’t called me to do everything in life. He’s called me to do what he made me and shaped me to do—and there is just enough time for that.

There will be a lot of things in life that are good but aren’t all that important. The Bible says, “Someone may say, ‘I am allowed to do anything,’ but not everything is helpful” (1 Corinthians 6:12 GW).

I'm free to do what I want with my life. God isn’t going to force me to do anything! I can waste my life, I can spend my life, or I can invest my life.

Everything is permissible—but not everything is beneficial. Some things in life are not necessarily wrong; they’re just not necessary.

I'll save myself a lot of time and energy if I learn and practice the skill of knowing what matters most and then devoting my life to it. I figure out what God has put me here on earth to do, and then I get right to it! 

The better I get at selecting and prioritizing what matters in my life, the more effective I'm going to be as a person, as a spouse, as a parent, and as a leader.

In summary:

The Bible teaches that while many things may be permissible, not everything is beneficial or worth pursuing. Paul modeled a focused life, keeping his eyes on God’s calling rather than being distracted by lesser things. In the same way, life isn’t about doing everything—it’s about discovering and devoting myself to what God uniquely designed me to do. Success and fulfillment come not from busyness but from prioritizing what truly matters. By practicing the skill of focus, I can invest my life wisely, becoming more effective in my faith, relationships, and leadership.

Bottom Line:

I don’t need to do everything—I just need to focus on the few things God has uniquely called and equipped me to do. Today I will take 10 minutes this week to list out all my current commitments, then prayerfully highlight the one or two that most align with my God-given purpose of helping people discover and fulfill their calling. I'll commit to focusing my energy there, and consider letting go of or delegating what doesn’t align.