I Choose: Part 4 - "Important Over Urgent" with Craig Groeschel - Life.Church

Choosing the Important Over the Urgent

Scripture References

Primary text

• Luke 10:38
• Luke 10:40
• Luke 10:41

Other references

• Matthew 6:33

Overview

Our lives are shaped by the choices we make, and we always have time for what we choose to have time for. In the final message of the “I Choose” series, Pastor Craig Groeschel calls us to reject the constant pull of the urgent and intentionally select what is truly important, just as Mary did when she sat at Jesus’ feet. Through a contrast with Martha’s distraction and three practical disciplines, we learn how to realign our calendars, our energy, and our hearts around what matters most.

Main Points

The Tyranny of “I’m Busy”

• “How are you?” ‑ “Busy.” Busyness has become the default badge of our culture.
• Pastor Craig’s conviction:

  “You have time for what you choose to have time for.”

• If the devil cannot make us bad, he will make us busy—crowding out things that truly matter.

Urgent ≠ Important

• Upset customer vs. building systems; engine repair vs. routine oil change; doctor visit vs. daily health habits.
• Seth Godin’s observation: Choosing the important reduces future urgencies, but choosing only the urgent never produces what is important.

Mary & Martha: A Living Illustration (Luke 10)

• Martha welcomed Jesus but became “distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.”
• Mary “sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said.”
• Jesus: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things… Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
• Key question posed: What crucial thing have you been distracted from pursuing?

Three Practices for Choosing What Matters

1. Create Artificial Deadlines

• Finish important tasks early (e.g., sermon done by Wednesday noon, not Saturday evening).
• Hard end-times force delegation, quicker decisions, and focus.

2. Be Ruthlessly Selective in Your Yeses

• Over-commitment, not lack of commitment, is the main barrier to a meaningful life.
• “The best leaders don’t do more; they do more of what matters most.”
• Start a “to-don’t list” so you can say no to good opportunities and yes to the best ones.

3. Do First What Matters Most

• Time with Jesus comes before everything else—seeking Him daily realigns priorities (Matthew 6:33).
• Pastor Craig blocks the calendar first for devotion, workouts, dinner with family, and weekly date night.
• Priority items go on the schedule before responding to others’ demands.

Personal Stories & Illustrations

• Story: Searching for keys that were in his mouth and earbuds that were in his ears—humorous proof of constant distraction.
• Story: Groeschel household panic-cleaning before guests, then Amy’s breakthrough: “What if we choose people over perfection?” Now friends are welcomed amid everyday mess.
• Story: Daughter Katie once said, “Daddy, this isn’t your home—your home is the church.” That sentence sent Pastor Craig to counseling for workaholism and reshaped his family priorities.
• Illustration: Leaving for a trip on Wednesday forces five days of work into three—an example of an artificial deadline’s power.

Key Truths

• Urgency can be an enemy of intimacy with God and people.
• We are fully responsible for how we allocate the limited time God gives us.
• Saying “no” to lesser things is often the only way to say “yes” to what is best.
• Seeking Jesus first each day equips us to recognize and act on true priorities.
• Important choices made today shape the person we become tomorrow.

Response

• Seek Jesus first every morning, before opening email or social media.
• Identify one vital area you have been neglecting; schedule focused time for it this week.
• Establish at least one artificial deadline to free margin for family, rest, or ministry.
• Start a “to-don’t list” and prayerfully remove one recurring commitment that lacks eternal value.
• Welcome people into your life and home without waiting for perfection.

Closing

Pastor Craig urged every listener to decide whom they will live for—self, others’ approval, or Jesus. Choosing Christ daily empowers us to choose the important over the urgent, just as Mary did.

“You can make excuses or you can make progress, but you can’t make both.”
With God’s help, the choices that matter will never be taken from us.

Prayer

Pastor Craig asked God to give the church courage and wisdom to say no to distractions and to align every step with the Father’s heart, so that what is most important will prevail over what merely feels urgent.