Enjoy your weekend with this story.... A wonderful service was held on this particular sunday,after the service,all the leaders of the church gathered for a meeting. Elder Paul rose up and saidI am a pioneer member of this church,and after all these years,I have only remained an elder.How can Deacon Peter be appointed as the pastor of the new parish? Was I not the one who preached to him before he got born again? And when did he joined this church that he should be given such a position?. The resident pastor repliedMy elder,your words surprise me. Have you forgotten you once told me that God has prepared Deacon Peter for a great role in spreading the gospel through this church,can you remember? Besides,we took this decision based on Gods direction. Yes I said that,and that was then but now,I cant stand it,he cannot be appointed as a leader over me while Im here. And if you choose to do it this way,I will leave the churchElder Paul replied angrily and walked away. The above scenario is common in churches today. When some see other people manifesting spiritual gifts in a greater dimension than them,their pride gets hurt easily and jealously arises within them,especially when they have been in the church longer than the others or became a Christian before them. This is so wrong! A thousand years of being in a church is not a thousand years of being with Christ. A hundred years of being saved should not be taken as a hundred years of spiritual development. They are two different things! This remind of what happened in John 3:22-36. After Jesus had been baptized by John,He went out gathering disciples,took them to the Judean countryside where He spent time with them and baptized many. At the same time,John continued in preaching and baptizing people. Johns disciples came to Him with the complaint that everyone is going to Jesus for baptism,in other words, the attention of the people was shifting from them to Jesus.John repliedYou yourselves bear me witness that I said I am not Christ but I have been sent before Him......He must increase,but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all...verse 27-36. From Johns reply,it shows he understood his role in the ministry of Jesus as the forerunner,so when Jesus started He ministry,he humbly welcomed it.He didnt see Jesuss ministry as a competition or opposition to his own ministry,but accepted Him as the one sent from God. Same way,we should eliminate every root of jealousy in us as members of Christs body. Some ministers get jealous when they see the ministry of others advancing than theirs,they go about spreading rumors about them that they are using demonic powers. Every man is given gift by God according to the measure of grace apportioned to him by Christ(Ephesians 4:7),so conspiracy and criticism resulting from jealously should not exist among us as believers. He may have become a Christian through you,but the level at which the gift of the spirit manifest in him is not determined by you,so respect the grace of God upon his life and be a partner with him in advancing Gods kingdom on earth instead of spreading false rumors about him. Hey sister! You have secretly admired brother Shaba for years,but he proposed to your roommate who he met through you,and now youre jealous? Why not accept the will of God in their lives and support them rather than looking for ways to break the relationship? Brother mike! Your friend came into the company through you and within a year,he was welcomed by all the staff and got promoted as a senior staff while you remain a junior staff. Why not thank God for your friends progress and trust God for your own promotion rather than seeking his downfall? Let every man recognize his/her role in the advancement of others and choose not to be jealous when they advance more than you. Desist from every form of jealousy! Read other articles written by me on my blog site-goodshepherdoutreach. Have a blessed weekend.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 10:09:33 +0000
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