Love Does Not Compete: Overcoming Jealousy and Pride

And so more than just on Sunday, we wanna get to a place where we use our breath to praise him in all of our situations, in all of our trials, in all of our tribulations, and all of our pains and all of our emotions and all of our highs and lows. Because it's only in that moment that god's love begins to flood in and drive out all of those negative thoughts that can keep us locked into a state of negativity. [00:31:15] (30 seconds)  #PraiseInEveryBreath

``So in order for us to steward our gifts well, we must serve each other above ourselves. Others' gift serves us. Our gift serves others. And when the loop is closed, everyone is served. Now in order to steward gifts well, we have been looking at this fact that love must be the foundation because by definition, love is the giving of selves for the benefit of others, and spiritual gifts are the giving of self for the building up of others. [00:34:14] (30 seconds)  #StewardGiftsServe

But then there's places where competition is is no room for it. For example, marriage. There's no competition that should exist in marriage. And and when there is or when there was, my wife and I had to learn this lesson that what it brought was actually destruction and ruin to the marriage. Why? Because you can't compete with someone and build them up at the same time. Competition by definition is somebody or a team of people competing to win over another person or group. So if there's competition in the marriage, then how can we build and be healthy? [00:37:00] (35 seconds)  #MarriageNoCompetition

Right? If I'm being honest, vulnerable, y'all know I had to get up off social media. Why? Because I'm in a we're in a place of uncertainty. And what I began to notice was that this was just jealousy trying to rise up in me as I was watching other people's races. And so as I was crying out to God, God, what is going on? God cried back out. Run your race. Asking me what the problem is, you. [00:47:25] (19 seconds)  #RunYourOwnRace

Let's be clear. I might have unhealed mommy issues, and I do. And do. Right? But if I disrespect women because of it, it ain't a trauma response. It's sin. Right? So let me say this plainly. A trauma response can still be sin. Okay? We love I get it. We can have trauma, but we have a responsibility to respond in that trauma in a god honoring spirit enabled way. We can't justify our issues and be like, it's just my trauma speaking. Then let the spirit speak instead. [00:58:03] (43 seconds)  #TraumaIsNotAnExcuse

Jealousy and boasting also reveals the self motives of an individual. See, if the kingdom advancement is the agenda, why do we care who god uses to do it? I'm all about the kingdom. So why are you mad that god uses somebody else to do something that he ain't using you for if you're all about the kingdom? Why can't you just celebrate that darkness is being pushed back? [01:07:08] (26 seconds)  #CelebrateKingdomWins

This is why a gift in the hands of an arrogant person is a weapon, not a tool. Because now you take what god has given you and you inflate this self with it. God god like, now now it it ain't good enough to be a teacher. You gotta be the greatest of teachers. It's not good enough to get a little prophetic word. Now you chief prophet. You got one right word in the 10 you gave, but you chief prophet. [01:13:03] (30 seconds)  #GiftsNotWeapons

But if we choose to feed the appetite of competition within the body, then we are not only walking in sin, we're hindering our growth and effectiveness. So the question that I want us to ask is, will you desire to be spiritual and therefore hear the words of god, receive it, and begin the pruning process, or will you choose to remain in the flesh, reject the word of god, and become destructive to the body? [01:21:21] (21 seconds)  #ChooseSpiritualGrowth