Hebraic Musing - The Challenge of our Competitive Spirit.
To prove the
existence of a devil and hell, all one has to do is point out one major ungodly
characteristic in EVERY human's makeup that wasn't there at the creation of
man: The Competitive spirit.
Competition is
simply the desire to subvert other humans under us or under another human or
group of humans. It's an innate and mysterious characteristic. Man is not like animals who are struggling in
the perpetual "survival of the fittest" food chain (I am NOT a
subscriber to Darwin's theories!). Man
is not under pressure to compete unless it is done voluntarily or promoted by
the society he lives in. In the case of modern man, we have taken the
survival aspect of competition and blended it into entertainment and the drive
for "success" in the marketplace, accumulation of possessions, pride
stoking by the accomplishments, etc.
Almost every
aspect of our daily lives involves resisting someone's desire to control our
lives. We deal with on-the-job
competition with fellow workers by finding strategies to "win" by
finding loopholes in the Laws & Rules.
We have major industries centered around sports. We are bombarded
daily with advertising which reminds us that we fall short. In all its forms, competition always requires
a "winner" and a "loser."
On the world
scene, any one nation seems incapable of being satisfied with who they are and
what they have. They seem driven to take
property and resources from other nations either by negotiation or war.
Why is this? From whence did this seemingly inbred desire to take from
and control others derive? The answer is, as always, plain and simple and
found in Scripture – The Fall of Man!
How does one
remove oneself from this humanist drive to obtain, expand, and increase
materially? How does Jesus provide the answer? Paul found out how
to avoid all this greed-driven acquisition paradigm, and he found it in the
treasures of Christ and being satisfied with them, rich or poor. “And
God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all
times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2
Corinthians 9:8 NIV
The challenge to
all governments and to all people is to realize that no matter how much they
control, no matter how much they obtain, no matter how much they
"win," they will never know what "enough" is and
stop seeking more.
BTW “Enough”
appears 96 x in the NIV! Why are people
so concerned about having “enough”?
· Proverbs.
30:15 “There are three things that are never
satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!': the grave, the barren womb,
land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!',
The eye that mocks a father, that scorns
obedience to a mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be
eaten by the vultures.”
· Proverbs 25:16 “If you find
honey, eat just enough— too much of it, and you will vomit.”
· Ecclesiastes
5:10 “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves
wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.”
· Matthew 6:34
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Conclusion - You must know
what your "enough" is before you'll be able to know the
"more than enough" that God promises each of us.
Points to Ponder
Hasn’t God given you “enough”?
Why do babies (& adults) keep
saying “More, More”?
Is the competitive spirit a spirit
of Love?
“Philip
said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’”
John 14:8
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)” Weekly “Hebraic Musings”
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