Priorities are incredibly difficult to define. The difficulty is not in defining what I should think my priorities are, but the hard part is taking stock of what I actually value the most. I can say my highest priority is serving God, but when examining my actions, it is quite apparent that this is not the case.
I would say that my own happiness is my number one priority, but this leads into a logical mess. From my own experience, I realize that I am unable to make myself happy through following my own desires. Happiness is an emotion. Emotions do not necessarily follow reason, but this is not to say that they are always unreasonable either.
It is easy to understand that sometimes we feel happy and have no tangible reason why. Sometimes we feel happy when everything around us is crashing down. I do not intend to imply that feelings have no cause and that human experiences of joy are subject to the wrathful randomness of the cosmos, but only that the causes for emotion are not always clear.
The conclusion from this is that one’s desires are not directly connected to one’s happiness. Happiness is not about getting what you want. We think that something will make us happy, but that is not the case. This desire is at its heart lust and greed. We believe a lie that God is holding out on us. If we only had a better job, a bigger home, better friends, if we were only more productive, or a better person we could be happy.
God does not have our emotions as his top priority. This isn’t to say that our emotions aren’t a priority. This is reassuring. After all, a parent should not be wholly concerned with the happiness of their child, but should care about their entire well-being. God’s priority number one is our well-being. Our service to God is working towards our own well-being as well as the well-being of those around us.
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