Why put Christ first on the priority list?

While I was giving a speech to parents about bringing their children to the Catholic faith while coming back to the Church themselves, a man proposed a challenging question. Before I answer most questions, I say a little “Glory Be,” hoping that Christ is with me and allows the Holy Spirit to move my answer. However, I absolutely was not expecting a question like this one: “Why put Christ on the top of my priority list?”

I was taken back by the question and couldn’t help but think, Did you just listen to me talk for the last hour on why I put Christ first? However, I could not answer that question with the comments I had running through my head. Instead, I asked myself this question: What becomes essential if I do not put Christ on the top of my priority list?

If I look at it like a math problem, Christ is the constant in my life. Everything else is going to change. People will come and go, but the one thing that always remains is Christ. God is with me 12 months and 365 days a year, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, and even every second of every day. How could I not give Him the privilege of being number one on my priority list?

I remember telling a close friend that if someone cannot accept that Christ will always be number one in my life and everyone else follows, then that’s the other person’s issue. It is not my concern whether others cannot accept that Christ is number one in my life. If this is such a huge concern for them, then I guarantee that Christ is not number one in their lives. Most of my friends are okay with Christ being number one on my priority list. He comes first, and why not?

Back to the gentleman at my speech, he was still not happy with my answer. In fact, he could have been a lawyer at the rate he was arguing that I was asking for my relationships to fail with my attitude. However, my relationships are thriving, especially those in which the other person is okay with Christ being number one in my life.

By putting Christ on the top of my priority list, I know that no matter what comes my way, I can conquer it. Christ will take care of any situation. Christ will give me the wisdom and strength to get the lesson I need. He will give me the graces I need to be the better person I need to be.

My happy moments would not be possible. My sad moments would not be possible. Nothing is possible if Christ is not in the picture. At the end of the day, I am able to be a better person because of Christ. It is not an easy task to put Christ first. However, I know that Christ will never let me down. Other people will let me down, and people will fade in and out of my life. Somehow, Christ will always be there whispering in my ear that my home is in Heaven with Him. I am still a sinner. I am still human. Yet, I still receive the graces of God.

Making Christ a priority is a conscious choice every second of every day. It is a conscious choice that we all can make each day. It is a priority that will give us a way to make everything change for the better or make everything change for the choice. Putting Christ at the top of your priority list is about humbling yourself to be the person who can say, “I cannot live without Christ.”

The choice is yours: Are you giving Christ the honor of being the number one guy on your priority list?