Smol tok nomo |
Smol tok nomo |
Love your neighbour as yourself, do unto others as you would have done to you, preferring one another in love, these are the principles we see all through out the scripture. You know what we don't see? There is only enough of "the best" for one so "get yours." Perhaps we would never verbalise this concept, but how do our actions say we feel about it?
I believe a spirit of competition is often accompanied by a jealous spirit, a selfish spirit, and ultimately a spirit of anti - Christ - as in it completely goes against (anti) what Christ's spirit reflects in scripture. "Woah! That is harsh! alot of fortune 500 companies build their team on these premises, it is competition that breeds excellence in a work environment, it weeds out the weak and it is "just a part of life" you say. Here is what we must understand; there is a wisdom that is of this world, it is not God's wisdom. Make no mistake there are two kingdoms in operation rather you can see it with your physical eye or not. There is the kingdom of this world, led by the prince of this world (satan himself) and there is the kingdom of God led by our heavenly Father (I bet you can probably guess which one a Christian is supposed to be operating in).The world's kingdom says do the best, be the best, get the best and It is driven by self gratification. The kingdom of heaven says, I have surrendered my will to God's will, I believe in His providence and choose to trust Him with every destination along the way to my final destination - heaven. So what about excellence, isn't competition healthy to breed excellence? I am glad you mentioned this. Excellence bred from competition is motivated by self, and it is preferring your self over another, it strives to be the best so that it can earn the best (2 Tim 2:24-25). The heavenly kingdom's way says apart from Christ we don't actually deserve anything, our sinful nature has us condemned, and our best efforts are inadequate, but when we acknowledge this and step into humility with Christ we can do more and go further than we ever could in ourselves. God's way also has a plan for excellence, we strive to do our best and be our best because of God. Not because he is hard to please, but it is our desire to please Him that brings about the best possible results in our own life. Isn't God's ways so cool? Best of all, we know in God's providence He has a plan and purpose for each of us, in the absence of competition we can cheer each other on knowing that other's success in no way effects what God wants to do in and through us. So if Christians are operating in God's kingdom (doing our best, developing the gifts He has given to us, trusting in His providence to open doors for us) and others are operating in the world's system (competing, manipulating, sabotaging, slandering) won't Christians suffer mistreatment and abuse? If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. John 15:18-19 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us 2 Timothy 2:11-12 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same…But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Luke 6:33,35 I would love to tell you that I have always done this part just right. That I never got sick of it, tired of it, felt completely bullied and seamlessly and quietly slipped over into the worlds system. Who could blame me? I am a strong person and enough is enough right? I would also have to tell you I grieved the Holy Spirit in doing so. We have to accept that sometimes the suffering is a part of God's plan for us, but it is what He uses to mold us and grow us. If "All things work together for good" as scripture tells us "when we are called by God" then the suffering part is for our good too. Here is the thing, if we are operating in God's kingdom no amount of others operating in the kingdom of this world can take us off the path He has for us or take anything from us. We can get off course only if we allow other's actions to penetrate our hearts and cause us to reject the shepherd who is leading us. Don't fall into the lie that competition is "just a part of life", instead I recommend praying that God's plan for your life is fulfilled, and that God's plan for every life around you is also fulfilled. Do you not think the Master builder is able to design a plan where we each serve our purpose? I don't even believe there is "friendly competition" in the kingdom of heaven. Instead, there is spirit-led, divine providence and preferring others. That is a hard truth because it hurts our flesh and pride, we want to think we had something to do with our accomplishments, flesh wants recognition for actions and to have earned something, reality is every good and perfect gift comes from God. Another issue with competition is you may get what you want and not want what you get! What we get from operating outside of the perimeter of God's ways could ultimately destroy us, there is divine protection in letting God lead. The spirit behind competition has become culturally acceptable, but I submit that at its core it is an anti-Christ spirit, working against the spirit of God. Just because we have a mutual understanding that this is "just the way things are" doesn't mean God is not calling us up higher, to walk in His ways with an open ear and a heart of humility. With competition, just like everything else, let's allow God's word to define us and not the cultural norm. sidenote; I do believe the laws of sowing and reaping are biblical, if I sow hard work I will reap, but I also believe if others sow they will reap. The worldly principle in question is there is only enough reaping for one, but I believe just as our minds cannot fathom that God is forever, has always been and will always be, he also has more than enough to meet ALL of our needs and the simple truth is if He didnt have enough (which He does) than living in His principles we would prefer whatever was available to our brothers. Being like Christ is what makes the world take notice, it is so different than anything they have ever seen before.
2 Comments
Robin Winingar
7/18/2022 02:06:32 am
This is very true. Preferring others over ourselves is the best way to live. Doing from a heart of gratitude for the One who has done so much for us, eliminates the need to compete.
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Jennifer Thomas
7/18/2022 03:53:05 am
Thank you Robin for the encouragement :) The Bible tells us to both love our neighbors and our enemies, I am not sure how we can do either without wishing the very best for them.
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AuthorWife, Mother, Missionary, Teacher, Friend ... just a few of the many titles I gladly wear. Never dreamed this is the journey God would take me on. Archives
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