First Priority: Knowing and Loving God

“For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Revelation 4:11 (KJV)

The first purpose of my life is to know and love God. The more I understand how much God loves me, the more I'm going to love him back. He made me for his pleasure. If he hadn't wanted to love me, I would not exist.

The Bible says, “For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11 KJV).

The fact is God takes pleasure in just watching me be me. Not when I sin, but when I do what he made me to do. So, if he wired me to organize, he enjoys watching me organize a closet or plan a garden. If he made me to be a salesperson and I make a good sale, he says, “That's my boy." Or if I play music or work on a car, God just enjoys watching me be me, because he made me and loves me.

Jesus said, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38 NIV). This verse describes worship. Worship is simply letting God love me and then loving him back.

Worship is more than just music. I can worship in silence, in giving, in listening, and in serving others. I can worship God in a hundred different ways as I express my love to him.

The opposite of worship is worry, and it’s the warning sign that I’ve stopped worshiping. Every day, I have a choice: “Am I going to worry, or am I going to worship?”

Matthew 6:32 says, “Only people who don’t know God are always worrying about such things” (CEV). Why? Because they're not focused on God’s greatness and his love; they're focused on their problems and insecurities.

To live out my purpose of knowing and loving God, here’s how to start. Every morning, pray, “Lord, I know you made me to love me. Thank you. I love you too. And today, if I don't get anything else done, I want to know you a little bit better and I want to love you a little bit more, because that's the first purpose of my life."

In Summary:

Revelation 4:11 and Matthew 22:37–38 establish the foundational premise of human existence: I was created intentionally by God, for His pleasure, to be deeply loved by Him and to love Him in return. My reflection highlights that worship is far broader than musical expression or church attendance—it encompasses engaging my natural wiring, honoring my unique abilities, and turning ordinary daily execution into an offering of love back to my Creator. The sharpest diagnostic is that worry serves as the direct inverse of worship; anxiety surfaces the moment attention shifts from God’s character and sovereignty onto personal problems and self-reliance. Grounding my day in receiving His love before seeking external validation transforms daily effort from performance-driven stress into purpose-driven stewardship.

Bottom Line:

True worship begins by resting in God’s delight over my life and responding with wholehearted obedience, transforming ordinary daily actions into an offering rather than an anxious pursuit of approval.

Next Step:

Set a concrete cue-routine habit for the start of my workday: before opening emails, reviewing schedules, or engaging with tasks, pause for two minutes to audibly recite my morning realignment prayer—declaring that knowing and loving God precedes my productivity—and actively dedicate my core skills and tasks for the day as an act of worship to Him.