My Spirit, My ResponsibilitySample

My Spirit and Promotion

Do you get your esteem from what you do? Do you class yourself and compare yourself against other people? Do you think you deserve more respect or more honour?

Psalm 75:6-7 says,

"For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another. [KJV]"

Promotion doesn’t come from other people or from what is going on around us, it comes from God. Trusting God means we’ll keep the kind of spirit where we can believe that God will open doors for us.

Trying to find our esteem from what we do builds all the wrong things into our spirit. Measuring your life according to what is or isn’t fair is a recipe for discouragement and resentment. “Why them and not me?” It’s the very thing Paul warns us against in 2 Corinthians 10:12-13,

"For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise."
 
Do you judge others against yourself or what you think they deserve? “I deserve to be sitting at the front of the plane, not back here between these two crying babies and this guy with B.O.!” But if God gave us what we actually deserve, we’d all be in trouble!
 
Comparison is a deadly game you cannot win. You’ll always come second – you can guarantee it. There will always be someone better looking, smarter, more spiritual, or who just seem to get more ‘breaks’.

I remember sitting on an aeroplane one time. Because Australia is a long way to travel from the rest of the world, I had plenty of time on my hands. I started reading my passport and became really impressed with myself as I looked at all the stamps thinking, look at me! I’ve been everywhere! Suddenly I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, “Big deal. I’m in all those countries at the same time!”

But by the grace of God where would any of us be? God promotes when He wants to promote. He opens doors when He wants to open the doors. Keep your spirit free from the competitive pursuit of promotion and position. I have learned that if God puts authority and credibility on my life, my title is irrelevant. Honour people because of their value in God, not because of their title. 

PRAYER:  Father God, may I recognise the infinite value that you have placed on me and on others.  Help me not to judge or compare, but to see people and to see myself the way that you do.