Recognition

1 Cor.15:⁴¹ “The sun is glorious in one way, the moon is glorious in another way, and the stars are glorious in their own [distinctive] way; for one star differs from and surpasses another in its beauty and brilliance.” (AMPC].

John 3:²⁷ “John answered them, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless God bestows it.” (TPT]. Look to God and God alone as your source and do not be jealous of any man. The truth is, it does not make sense to be arrogant because you are nothing without Jesus – nothing! It does not make sense to be arrogant because a man can receive nothing except it is given to him from heaven,  – nothing! What do you have that you look at and it fills you with pride which translates to arrogance? 1 Cor.4:⁷ “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (NIV]. In other words, if there is nothing you have that was not given to you, how can you be proud? I am a product of somebody’s grace, somebody’s generosity.

Where is the arrogance coming from? 1 Peter 4:¹⁰ “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” Even though this verse speaks to spiritual gifts, you can apply it to any other gift. What do I have that you do not have? The purpose of what I have that you do not have, is so that I can use what I have to serve you. What do you have that your neighbour does not have? That thing that you have that your neighbour does not have, the purpose of that thing is so that you can use it to serve your neighbour that does not have. And I want you to really think about it; what do you have that other people do not have? If you did not know what to do with it before now, I have just told you. Take it, steward it, and serve. Philip.2:³ “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.” I never consider myself as better than anybody else, I just don’t because there is nothing, I have that was not given to me. So, there is no need to be arrogant. To be arrogant is to displaying foolishness.

John 3:³⁰ “He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” This is one of those statements some people really struggle with. This is John the Baptist, everything was going well for him, ministry was booming. The military generals were coming to him for baptism, he was even abusing them, ‘You brood of vipers, snakes who told you to come?’ [Matt.3:7]. Yet John saw someone who had practically no one following Him at that time and John said, ‘that man is greater than me.’ Who does that? Only someone that knows who they are. Your inability to recognize people greater than you will limit your greatness. Once again, your inability to recognize people greater than you will truncate your greatness. The glory of stars is different, one star varies in glory from another, but all stars have glory. People are on different levels of greatness. Can you increase? Yes, but you need to recognize the people ahead of you.

Prayer: Father, I ask for the grace and wisdom to serve others with the gifts You have given me and the grace to recognize and honour people who are greater than me, in Jesus Name. Amen!