Confession; I have idea-sharing envy. I have been reading a few blogs lately, written by some beautiful and gifted friends, and I’ve been catching myself thinking “wow, this so close to what I was thinking the other day!” or “this is exactly what I wanted to write about!” Even in church or Bible study when someone says what I was thinking, I sometimes get really jealous or upset with myself that I didn’t say it first. And often times some have better formulated thoughts to share and I then get jealous of how they were able to say it. Really guys, I do this, and it is a problem. To clarify, these blogs and ideas are about faith in Christ, scripture understanding, and spiritual growth. And these covetous thoughts I have about others Spirit-led revelations are quite gross.
Several things are wrong with my thought process.
First of all, these aren’t new ideas. Someone wise once said, “There is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecc. 1:9) These shared understandings of God’s love or insights on how to walk more closely with Him are not new. People have been following Jesus for many years, and there are several who have written the very same things under the influence of God’s holy presence and guidance; a.k.a, the Bible. And God can reveal to us the same ideas in new ways and ask us to share them with others so that they may understand and come to know more of Him, that is not wrong or out of His character to do if it truly is the Word of God. That’s why there are so many Christian books out there (not saying all are true and Biblical, and they shouldn’t replace our time in Scripture). But this blog isn’t to argue the posting of such revelations, it’s to look at our heart on how we receive these ideas.
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. “(James 1:17)
Another thing I have wrong is the source of good ideas. They are not mine nor the author of any blog or books ideas. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) If we are followers of the True God then we have the same Holy Spirit dwelling within us. That “new” us has been brought by the Spirit of God. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16) There should be no surprise that my fellow followers of Jesus are having the same ideas as me, because we share the same Spirit. “For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” (Ephesians 2:18) Christian, we have equal access to our Father, but does He have equal access to us? Perhaps I wasn’t allowing Him to use me to write those blogs or share those answers in Sunday school because I wasn’t willing to let go of my pride. Maybe He knew I would take the acclamations. Now I may have gone a little off topic here, but the point is, we share God’s Spirit and He is the one who gives us good ideas; we do not simply come up with them on our own.
What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.” (1 Corinthians 14:26)
Lastly, I should rather be encouraging and uplifting my brothers and sisters instead of being jealous of them and what they have the privilege of doing. By boldly sharing what has been laid on their heart; they are being obedient to what God has been showing them. To envy what they do does not help me nor them.
“…walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—” (Ephesians 4:1-4)
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24-25
I am sure many people have written something just like this blog, and more than likely it is written better than this, and that’s okay with me now as long as it is truly from the Holy Spirit. But my final thought and question come down to this; our time on earth is limited, so why don’t we choose to spend it encouraging one another and doing His Kingdom work together? Let’s not be jealous of how people get to do that differently, but let us strive to see where God wants us to be used for His glory.
Greater Desires 