A Dose of Humility

I've spent a lot of time lately in the gospel of John. One of the things that never ceases to amaze me is the humility of John the Baptist. Humility isn't something we often hear referred to as a virtue in our world yet it's huge in God's sight. We seem to be all about ourselves...how will this make me appear, how will this affect me, what will this cost me? That's the world's mindset. One of my fave verses is 2:17, His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me." I've been asking myself if I am zealous for His House. We are zealous for many things, most have no significance in the kingdom of God and most are self-serving. John the Baptist was kingdom minded and it wasn't his own kingdom he was concerned with. He was fine with the fact that Jesus would increase and he would decrease. So often we are focused on our own following. We take ownership over "our class" and "our people". It's all about us. Somehow we take it personally and think everyone is supposed to follow us when in fact we are called to point others to Christ just as John did. Our mission is to lead people to follow Christ not us whatever role we are placed in. We grow jealous of another person's ministry or place of leadership...nothing could be further from the heartbeat of what ministry is suppose to be.
Competition in the world is normal, doing what it takes to get ahead is how people work. I'm a huge competitor when it comes to sports, I hate to lose. BUT, there is no place for competition in the church. Are we not all working for the same purpose? So often it seems like we are working against each other all for the sake of self. John knew his role and never forgot it. He didn't care anything about power or position in the political system of the Jews. He always pointed beyond himself. As God's truths work in us and people are drawn to us, may we always point them to Christ and take the light off of ourselves.
Matthew 11:11..."I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greather than John the Baptist..."