"He must increase, but I must decrease" John 3:25-31 NKJV
When John the Baptist mentioned that he needed to decrease and allow Jesus to increase in his life, he was saying that he must step into the shadows, allowing Jesus to take the glory for all He does and will do and just be His servant. We all need to do this, however nothing comes easy; as soon as you try, obstacles begin to stand in your way. One of these is Disputes, which can cause three side issues - Division, Destruction and Devastation. Let's look at these:
DISPUTES You will notice from verse 25, that a dispute arose between the Jews and John's disciples. Disputes carry a certain amount of venom and bad feeling and if not squashed immediately can lead to serious consequences within a fellowship and your relationship with God. Whether it is within a church fellowship or your own walk with God, disputes can overtake us all, so we need to be on guard. Disputes lead us to take sides and before you know it, one of the side-issues surface - Division.
(1) Division Disputes when not dealt with quickly will always cause a division. Whether we have bad feeling about what someone has said or done or it is about the interpretation of certain scripture, this is not helpful. How can Jesus increase in such an atmosphere if we have allowed ourselves to criticise, judge or berate a brother of sister? Sadly, division is a prime weapon for the enemy and many churches become split over it,
(2) Destruction Disputes can affect our walk with Jesus in many ways. When someone gossips, it can be received as the absolute truth and from there, we can allow ourselves to become involved in this behaviour. When we become like this, we tend to leave Jesus out of the equation. We begin saying things that may not be true - believing the lie that has been spread by the devil. We can also read a comment from a Christian writer, or hear a comment from a preacher, misinterpret it and tell the world to avoid the book or preacher. This destroys ministries and Jesus does not increase in your life.
(3) Devastation The results of disputes, as you can see from above, can have a bad effect on us. The results to a fellowship or to your own personal walk with Jesus, can be devastating. Think about it, does this behaviour demonstrate love? Does it promote Jesus? Does it build you up? The answer to these three questions is a big 'No'. All it does is promote people to use unedifying words, take very unwise action and cause argument and unrest to the people around and most definitely to your testimony.
If Jesus is to increase in your life, you must decrease. Jesus will never increase in your life as long as disputes are around, and, you will never decrease the way you should, if you are involved. To decrease means that you are elevating Jesus. One can hardly be seen to elevate Him with such behaviour as this.
Do not allow anything to rob you of promoting Jesus in your life. He is too special for that! Allow Him to increase, while you decrease.
Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.
Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers
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