Can you tell me where you see yourself being competitive?
Is it good or bad that you are competitive?
I would say that being competitive is good and bad, namely it depends on our heart attitude.
How I see it being good is when it spurs us onto being better like the verse,
Hebrews 10:24 “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”
Personally, I am spurred on by others words, especially in books
or if a friend shares personally what they are learning, then I am challenged and spurred onto wanting more too.
What really spurs me on though is what I see others live out; their actions challenge me and cause me to want to up my standards too. This is good competition, not wanting to conquer another rather to be like them.
I Tim 4:12 “set an example for the believers in speech, in life,
in love, in faith and in purity.”
What did I leave out? “Don’t let anyone look down on you
because you are young, but” You are young, yet God wants to use you as an example. All of us have a competitive side so let’s use this competition to raise the standard around us.
How I see competition as bad is, well let me ask a question…"Who
are your eyes on when you are being competitive?" Self, right. Winning at all cost is selfish. We are not to draw attention to
ourselves.
Phil 2: 3 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”
If we are focused on what others are thinking about us and wanting them to be impressed with our talents then our competition is selfish ambition and vain conceit.
My challenge is: continue to seek how to be an example over seeking to be better than someone else. It is easy to slip into viewing everything as a competition, but our goal is to be an example, life is a mentoring opportunity.
You are God’s hands and feet. As an adult, I can only do and say
so much, you actually have a greater influence with your peers because they can relate better to you. They expect adults to do certain things, but when a peer is bold and courageous, that inspires them to want to be that too.
So let’s be attuned to our competitive nature and when it becomes selfish, squash it by focusing on others needs and purposing to meet them. Also, use our knowledge of everyone having a competitive nature to spur others onto good deeds by being examples of serving and verbally encourage one another,
as you are already doing.
"If we are already doing it, why are you telling us to do it again?"
Because I know we each need spurring on even in areas we are doing well, plus I am following Paul’s example in
I Thess 5: 11 “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”