Put God First In Your Life | Victoria Osteen

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Podcast: Joel Osteen Podcast
Episode: Put God First In Your Life | Victoria Osteen
Release Date: January 24, 2026
Host: Victoria Osteen (with Joel Osteen)

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Episode Overview

In this inspiring episode, Victoria Osteen encourages listeners to re-evaluate their priorities and make a conscious decision to "put God first" in every area of life, especially at the start of a new year. Through practical examples, biblical wisdom, and relatable anecdotes, she emphasizes that true productivity—not just busyness—starts with setting the right priorities. Central to her message is the powerful metaphor of placing the “God rock” first in our lives.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Trap of Busyness vs. True Productivity

• Victoria cautions: Many people confuse activity with productivity, letting a packed schedule distract from what truly matters.
• Quote:

  “We all have a million things to do… But I want to encourage us to not be busy, but be productive.” (Victoria Osteen, 02:14)

• She shares personal reflections on how multitasking felt like a gift but ultimately only increased stress and weariness.

2. Setting Priorities for Dreams to Come to Pass

• To achieve dreams—whether a strong family, career advancement, or financial freedom—prioritization is key.
• Practical example:
  • If your goal is family health, give them your best time, not what’s left over.
  • For financial goals, prioritize saving over impulsive spending.
• Quote:

  “You can't stay out with your friends all night and expect to get to work the next day and perform at your top ability.” (Victoria Osteen, 03:14)

3. Biblical Wisdom on Time & Order

• Victoria cites Psalms 90:12:

  “Teach us to number our days so that we can gain a heart of wisdom.” (04:39)

• She relates Moses’ overwhelming responsibilities as a leader and the wise counsel Moses received:
  • Moses tried to manage everything himself, until his father-in-law Jethro advised him to delegate, allowing him to focus on only what he could do.

  “Don’t wear yourself out doing the things that other people can do. You need to do what only you can do.” (Victoria Osteen, 06:39)

4. The “Big Rocks” Metaphor for Setting Priorities

• Victoria recounts a well-known illustration:
  • A professor fills a jar with rocks (the big, important things), then gravel, then sand. If the rocks (key priorities) don’t go in first, they won’t fit later.
• Her core question to listeners:

  “Are you putting the big rocks in first?” (Victoria Osteen, 08:40)

• The most important "rock": time with God.

  “Our God rock should be the first rock that we put in our container of life.” (Victoria Osteen, 10:09)

5. Putting God First

• Victoria emphasizes beginning each day by prioritizing God—before distractions like phones or social media.
• Cites Proverbs 3:

  “If you will acknowledge God first place in everything you do, He will direct your path and crown your efforts with success.” (Victoria Osteen, 10:37)

• Encouragement:

  “Let’s all make a decision to put the God rock first in our jar of life and then all the other things will begin to make their way down.” (Victoria Osteen, 12:24)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “Activity sometimes just means busy. Just busy. And we don’t want to wear busyness as an important attribute in our life. We want to wear fruitfulness, productiveness, we want our life to represent the good things of God.”
  — Victoria Osteen, 05:13
• “If you want God to direct your path… He says, put Me first. Nobody wants to move in the wrong direction. Nobody wants to waste their time hanging around the wrong people.”
  — Victoria Osteen, 11:13
• “Put that God rock in and God will help you identify the other big rocks. Then all the other things can make their way down into your jar of life. Amen.”
  — Victoria Osteen, 12:50

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Important Timestamps

• 02:14 — Encouragement not to let busyness overtake our lives; distinguishing busyness from productivity.
• 03:14 — Real-life applications for prioritizing family, career, and finances.
• 04:39 — Introduction of Psalms 90:12 and setting spiritual priorities.
• 06:10 — Moses’ example of overwhelm and the wisdom of delegation.
• 08:40 — Big rocks metaphor introduced.
• 10:09 — Identifying the “God rock” as the top priority.
• 12:24 — Final challenge for listeners to put God first and promises of His guidance.

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Tone & Language

Victoria’s tone throughout is conversational, encouraging, and filled with practical spiritual wisdom. She uses relatable storytelling, scriptural references, and gentle challenges to inspire listeners to seek a more intentional, God-centered life.

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Takeaway

Start this year by putting God first in everything you do. Let the “God rock” determine your schedule and priorities, and trust that everything else will find its place.
As Victoria says, “He’s an awesome God.”

Transcript

[Kelly Ripa]

Hey there, it's Kelly Ripa. And if you've been listening to my podcast, we are knee deep in season three. And if you haven't heard it, it's time to get on board. After years of interviewing celebs on camera, I finally get to bring you the real conversations that take place when the cameras aren't rolling. Where else are you going to hear Michelle Obama talk about keeping her girls out of Page Six? Hilaria Baldwin's hilarious reaction to Alec running for office? Or Jeremy Renner's lucid hallucinations about Jamie Foxx? Nowhere else. It's raw, it's honest, and best of all, it's off camera. And believe me, that's where you get the good stuff. So download. Let's talk off camera with Kelly Rippa now. Wherever you get your podcasts at Amica.

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[Joel and Victoria Osteen]

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[Joel and Victoria Osteen]

Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry.

[Cosentyx Patient]

If you enjoyed today's message, why don't you be a blessing and share it with a friend?

[Joel and Victoria Osteen]

We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life.

[Cosentyx Patient]

Thank you Lord. We are a grateful people. Amen. You may be seated. I just want to encourage us all at the first of this year to not allow busyness to consume our lives. To not allow just the busyness of life to overwhelm us and overtake us. We all have a million Things to do. There's our jobs, our families. We have responsibilities of all kinds. We have chores to do, plenty of activities that can keep us busy. But I want to encourage us to not be busy, but be productive. You see, if we're going to see our dreams and desires come to pass for this year, those things that we're expecting, we're going to have to make room for them. We're going to have to clear out some of the clutter and set some priorities. You see, if you want a healthy, strong family this year, if that's the desire of your heart, you're gonna have to move some things around. You're going to have to give your family the first and best of your time, not your leftovers. Maybe you're learning a new career, getting ready for a promotion. You can't stay out with your friends all night and expect to get to work the next day and perform at your top ability. Your desire is to get out of debt this year. This is the year I'm getting out of debt. I can feel it. I can sense it. You can't go and spend everything that you see. You can't buy everything that you see. You can't be spending your money. You've got to learn how to save it. You got to set some priorities. You see, if we're going to see our dreams and desires come to pass, we can't just let everything occupy our time and get us off course. You know, at one point in my life, I thought that multitasking was a gift. And I had it in abundance. I could juggle all these balls in the air. In fact, sometimes I would look at Joel and think, look at me. Look how much I can do now. You know, women, we do have a little more tendency than men to wear a lot of hats. We try to do it all. So women, we can somehow fall in this a little bit more than men. But I realized one day that. That my multitasking was not productive. What it was doing was burning my energy. I was working on one thing, thinking about two other things. It was causing me to have a hurry spirit. See, I had to hurry and do this so I could hurry and do that. The people around me had to hurry because I have to hurry. You know, that brings stress into our life. That is not productive. You see, so often we think that activity equals productivity, and it doesn't. Activity sometimes just means busy. Just busy. And we don't want to wear busyness as an important attribute in our life. We want to wear fruitfulness, productiveness, we want our life to represent the good things of God. We want our life to be in a place of priority, getting the right things done at the right time. I want to encourage us, let's don't put the lesser things in and leave out the more important things. It says in Psalms 9012, teach us to number our days so that we can gain a heart of wisdom. That psalm was a prayer of Moses. And I can only hear the cry of his heart. God, teach me, teach me and show me how to order and prioritize my day. Moses was the man who was in charge of all the Israelites. He brought them out of captivity and was God's man leading them into the promised land. Can you imagine the great responsibility on Moses life? They say there was over 600,000 men. That's not including all the women and children that he was responsible for. All eyes were on Moses. He had to have all the answers. He had to know how to get to the right places. He had to be the one to hear from God for them. I'm sure some of you feel a little bit like Moses. Everybody's asking you things. You need to fix all their problems. You need to pray for them. You need to bring in the money. You need to do it all. You feel overwhelmed. You see, you need to pray the same prayer Moses did. God, teach me to order my day. Teach me to put the right things into perspective. Not to put the lesser things first, but the what matters first. You know, there was an account of Moses and he was trying to settle all the disputes among the people. He would sit day in and day out listening to their arguments, listening to the things that were going wrong in their life. He was trying to give them the right answers, trying to settle disputes among them day in and day out. One day God sent his father in law, Jethro. And Jethro observed what was happening, that Moses was just wearing himself out, sitting among the people, trying to resolve all the problems and do everything else he was supposed to do. And Jethro spoke into his life and said, you need to set up a system. You need to appoint your godly, God fearing men, put them over the tribes, begin to set up a system that you can meet the needs of the people. Don't wear yourself out doing the things that other people can do. You need to do what only you can do. You need to set your priorities. I truly believe that was an answer to Moses prayer. He sent a wise counsel to him to help him gain the right perspective, to help him clear some of the clutter and rearrange his life. You see, God wants to help us. He's got people out there to help you. He's got ideas to make your life easier. We've got to pray. God help us. It's about ordering our life so that we can see our God callings come into existence, come into full fruition. We want to be all that God has called us to be. My question today is, are you putting the big rocks in first? See, the big rocks represent the important things, the things that are going to move you forward, the things that are going to satisfy you and bring forth these God callings out in your life and in the lives of those you love. You see, there was a professor and he stood up in front of his students and he held up a glass jar, a see through jar, and he put three big rocks in it. The rocks filled the top of the glass. And he asked his students, is the jar full? To them it looked full. They were to the top container. And then he grabbed some gravel and he began to put it in the jar and shake the jar. And the gravel began to work its way down. He asked his students, is the jar full? Then he got some sand and he began to pour the sand in. And the sand started filling in all the other empty spaces. You see, his illustration and example was to show his students a lesson in productivity. He was showing them that if you will put the big rocks in first, all the little things will make its way around them. But if you put the gravel, the sand, and all this stuff in first, you're not going to have room for the big rocks. You see, my question is, what rocks are we putting in first? The big rocks are the important rocks. We have to put the big rocks in our container of life first if they're going to get done. And one of the major big rocks that would benefit all of us would be spending time with God. You see, our God rock should be the first rock that we put in our container of life. The scripture says in Proverbs 3 that if you will acknowledge God first place in everything that you do, that he will direct your path and he will crown your efforts with success. You see, it's so easy in the morning to pull our phones off of the charger and begin to look at our text messages, our emails, check out social media, and before we know it, time has gotten away from us. So we have to put that God rock aside for a later time. But see, if you want God to direct your path, if you want him to crown your efforts with success. He says, put me first. Nobody wants to move in the wrong direction. Nobody wants to waste their time hanging around the wrong people. No one wants to do the things that aren't important. We all want to be productive. We want to reach the fullness of our destiny. So my encouragement today is let's all make a decision to put the God rock first in our jar of life and then all the other things will begin to make their way down. Put that God rock in and God will help you identify the other big rocks. Then all the other things can make their way down into your jar of life. Amen. Amen. He's an awesome God.

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It's a new year. Time to see the impossible become possible. It's a new year. Life setbacks are about to become God's setups for new opportunity. It's a new year. Cherished dreams will become unexpected reality.

[Joel and Victoria Osteen]

The start of the new year is the perfect time to reset your focus, release disappointments of the past and get ready for the new things God has in store. Every January we create a new 365 day devotional calendar. I'd love to send it to you. Each day is filled with inspiration, scripture and uplifting declarations to fuel your faith. When you begin the day thanking God for what he's done, speaking victory over your future, you're positioning yourself for a blessed, favor filled year. Amazing things happen when you keep God.

[Amica Insurance Announcer]

First Place as our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount. This first month of the year, we would like to send you a copy of our brand new 365 Day 2026 devotional calendar. Do you want to overcome your most pressing challenges in 2026? Do you want to see your life take off in new directions of influence, favor and provision in the year ahead? With this daily encouragement, you'll not only smile at your day, you'll be reminded that God is smiling on your entire life. Each day will be a fresh new day. Turn discouragement to encouragement. Frustration to fulfillment. Anxiety to overcoming. Start each morning knowing that it's God's desire to turn what seems like an ordinary life into extraordinary favor, strength and opportunities. Using this devotional calendar is as easy as one. 2, 3. 1. Wake up with an expectancy in your heart. 2. Reflect on the daily scripture verse and devotional from Joel.

[Kelly Ripa]

3.

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Capture the Lord's promises to you on journaling lines for writing and reflection.

[Joel and Victoria Osteen]

2026 is going to be one of your best years ever. We're going to help you stay in faith so you can see the goodness of God in new ways. Victoria and I pray for you and your family every day and we want to thank you for your prayer and support. Your generosity is impacting lives around the world. A special thank you to our Champion of Hope partners for your monthly gifts. If you're not a partner, I hope you'll consider becoming one. Remember, you can watch the services online live every Sunday morning, download our daily podcast, watch on YouTube or the new Joel Osteen network 24 hours a day. Of course, listen to live on SiriusXM as well. But until we meet again, may the Lord bless you and keep you.

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Be sure to request your copy of the 2026 devotional calendar available this month by simply visiting [e-mail] or calling 888-567-JOEL. Also, no matter what season you're in joy, sorrow, waiting, growth, God wants to speak into each and every moment. God's Word for Every Season is a guided journal series designed to help you slow down, write out scripture, and reflect on its truth one verse at a time. As you engage with His Word, you'll discover fresh strength, deeper peace, and timely encouragement for every step of your journey. You can request these inspiring resources by calling 888-567, Joel or logging on to jolostein.com today. Call or click anytime 24 hours a day. Request these resources today.

[Kelly Ripa]

Hey there, it's Kelly Ripa, and have you been listening to my podcast? We are knee deep in Season three, and if you haven't heard it, it's time to get on board. After years of interviewing celebs on camera, I finally get to bring you the real conversations that take place when the cameras aren't rolling. Where else are you going to hear Michelle Obama talk about keeping her girls out of Page Six? Hilaria Baldwin's hilarious reaction to Alec running for office, or Jeremy Renner's lucid hallucinations about Jamie Foxx. Nowhere else. It's raw, it's honest, and best of all, it's off camera. And believe me, that's where you get the good stuff. So download. Let's talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa now. Wherever you get your podcasts.