John the Baptist says about Jesus, “he must increase, but I must decrease” (v.30). I’d have to look at the Greek to see the correct word order, but in this English translation John focuses first on Jesus increasing. If I (ego) am going to decrease it will be because Christ is increasing in me. To put it bluntly, it is virtually impossible for me to decrease and be “crucified with Christ,” to borrow from Paul, without Christ increasing in me.
It took lots of humility for John to move over, in terms of his preaching and baptism ministry, to make room for Jesus to increase in ministry scope. Yet, the effective minister knows that she is most fruitful when ego is gone and Christ reigns in and through her.
So, I will lovingly obey Christ today by making sure that I don’t seek to outshine him (as if I really could). In other words, I will make sure that in my words, thoughts, and actions I invite him to be more prominent than me so that people come away more impressed with who he is than with who I am.
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