---
title: "What does it mean to put God first?"
url: "https://seekabove.com/answers/what-is-the-first-commandment"
description: "The First Commandment — “I am the Lord your God… you shall have no other gods before me” — calls us to put God first in everything: to believe in him, hope in him, love him above all, and worship him…"
published: "2026-06-06"
updated: "2026-06-06"
category: "Christian Life"
scripture: ["Exodus 20:2-5", "Deuteronomy 6:4-5", "Matthew 4:10", "Matthew 22:37", "1 John 5:21"]
catechism: "CCC 2084, 2110, 2112–2117, 2123, 2135"
---

# What does it mean to put God first?

## Short answer

The First Commandment — "I am the Lord your God… you shall have no other gods before
me" — calls us to put God first in everything: to believe in him, hope in him, love
him above all, and worship him alone. It rules out not just literal idols but anything
we let take God's place at the centre of our lives.

## Full explanation

This is the foundation the other nine commandments rest on. Before any rule about how
to treat others, God asks for the heart: that he be *first*. Everything else in the
moral life flows from getting this right — because whatever sits at the centre of your
life ends up shaping all the rest.

In its original setting, the command was radical: surrounded by nations with many gods,
Israel was to worship the one true God alone. To love him with "all your heart, and with
all your soul, and with all your might" is, Jesus says, the greatest commandment.
Positively, this commandment is about faith (believing in God), hope (trusting him), and
charity (loving him above all) — and about adoration: God alone is to be worshipped.

It also names what *breaks* it. The obvious one is **idolatry** — but idolatry rarely
looks like bowing to a golden statue today. It looks like letting something created take
the throne that belongs to God: money, success, power, pleasure, image, even another
person or a good cause turned into an ultimate thing. An idol is whatever you'd sacrifice
anything for, whatever you trust to make you secure or happy "if I just had it." The
First Commandment gently asks: what actually runs your life?

The commandment also rules out trying to get power or knowledge from sources other than
God — **superstition, divination, fortune-telling, horoscopes, the occult, and magic.**
These promise control over the future or hidden forces, but they sidestep trust in God
and can open the door to real spiritual harm. The Church takes seriously both that God
alone is Lord of the future and that dabbling in such things is not the harmless
entertainment it's often sold as. Likewise it warns against putting God to the test, and
against the indifference or contempt that simply pushes God to the margins.

None of this is God being insecure or demanding. It's the opposite: God knows that we
become like whatever we worship, and that only *he* is big enough to be the centre
without crushing us. Put anything smaller in that spot and it will eventually fail you or
enslave you.

## Why this matters

We all worship something — we're built to organise our lives around what we treasure
most. The only question is *what*. The First Commandment isn't an arbitrary demand for
attention; it's a rescue from the smaller "gods" that promise life and can't deliver.
Getting the first thing first puts everything else in its right place.

## Common misunderstanding

Many assume this commandment is irrelevant today — "nobody worships idols anymore." But
idolatry just changed costume: the human heart still hands ultimate trust to money,
status, romance, or self. Another misunderstanding treats horoscopes, fortune-telling, or
the occult as harmless fun; the Church sees them as real violations of trust in God, not
trivial.

## Scripture connections

- **Exodus 20:2-5** — the commandment itself: no other gods, no idols to worship.
- **Deuteronomy 6:4-5** — "the Lord is one"; love him with all your heart, soul, and
  might.
- **Matthew 4:10** — Jesus: "worship the Lord your God, and serve only him."
- **Matthew 22:37** — loving God with everything is the greatest commandment.
- **1 John 5:21** — "keep yourselves from idols," a New Testament echo.

## Church teaching references

- CCC 2084, 2110, 2112, 2113, 2114, 2115, 2116, 2117, 2123, 2135
- The Catechism treats the First Commandment as the call to faith, hope, charity, and
  the worship of God alone, and as the rejection of idolatry, superstition, and the
  occult.

## Reflection question

If someone watched where your time, money, and worry actually go, what would they
conclude is really "first" in your life — and does that match what you'd want it to be?