August 1, 2007
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Greater vs. Less
A long time ago I wrote down a something from a passage of scripture onto an envelope that stays in my Bible. Almost every time I open it up I see the phrase from John 3:30 that says “He must become greater; I must become less.”
These words were spoken by John the Baptist in reference to Jesus. It was at this time the people were coming to JTB and complaining that there was another teacher that was baptizing that was becoming more popular than he. “Everyone is going to him” they said (John 3:26).
PAUSE
This is the point where nowadays most people when faced with a situation similar to this usually gets insanely jealous of the other individual and either gives up, or develops a highly competitive spirit. Usually then bitterness towards the other individual is accompanied by feelings of hatred…rage and violence ensue…it’s not pretty…
UN-PAUSEJohn the Baptist knew his place. The words from John 3:30 tell of his submission to his subordinate role to Jesus.
Although I have probably seen this scripture in front of me for a couple of years now, I have continually struggled to find how it applies to my life in a real and tangible way. I understand my life functions and success are dependent upon my surrender to the Lord–but how do I balance that with the fact that as an artist/musician I have to constantly “sell myself” to potential employers or clients? I have only learned the value of being able to talk about all of my good qualities and accomplishments to others in the past few years. But it is very difficult to somehow tell someone how “I can do this” and how “I’ve done that” and “accomplished all of these things” and “worked for these people” in order to let them know what kind of skills and experience I have–all the while trying to keep it straight in my own mind that I’m only able to do these things by using the talents and drive that God gave me.
He must become greater–I must become less.
Man–that’s just one big enigma to me. I’m really trying to figure it out, but its’ HAAARRRD.
Comments (6)
word.
u are human then? i was starting to wonder….
oh and i’ll be skipping all the way from my car to the office to pick up that cd manana
heeheeheeheeeee lalalallaaaa
So many weird contradictions in the Bible. Ok, not contradictions, but things that are totally illogical. Good stuff.
Never were truer words spoken. OK, that’s not true, but I totally understand what you mean. It’s weird when you have to self-promote, like at job interviews & the like.
Speaking of becoming less, check this out:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RZIGVS?tag=joblosmovieempor&link_code=as3&creativeASIN=B000RZIGVS&creative=373489&camp=211189
Oh man you aren’t kidding! Day in and day out we come face to face with challenges that seem to be unsurmountable at times. And yet only by the grace of God can we learn and overcome these. I have been dealing with many similar lessons the past couple of months that just seem to kick me down and the Lord keeps picking me right back up. Thank you God for not allowing me to be a complete failure!