Thou shalt have no other gods before me

I think a lot of times when we learn about the ten commandments we treat it like a check list that we have already completed. I think that if we would take the time to read even just the first commandment more carefully we would find that we have more to work on.

The first commandment is, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”. As I read the first commandment I often think of the ancient times and of them worshipping the golden images and statues. I forget about all of the "other gods" that we can potentially put before Heavenly Father. This means that anything that is coming between us and Heavenly Father is an "other god" and in violation of the first commandment. It seems so simple but how often have we let our talents or our dreams come before our priorities to God. I think that is a big part of living on the earth- learning to put God first, before all of the other distractions. I know that as we put God first everything else in our life will come together. (of course not immediately and maybe not even until the next life). I am so thankful for a knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father because it helps to keep everything in perspective. In my own life I want to evaluate potential "other gods" and determine how I can better put God first in my life.

The former President kimball gave a very good talk about this entitled, The False God We Worship.