Increase and Decrease

"He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:30

I've always liked this verse. The idea that God can increase in my life appeals to my need to be better, to become more than I am. But it's not that He can increase, but rather He must increase in my life. Too often in my life I allow other things: work, belongings, hurts, and longings to fill up my life; before long I feel myself drowning in stuff. Lately, I've felt like the stuff has been ruling me. I look around, both externally and internally, and I see too much. It is overwhelming me and it makes me feel stuck, hidden, like the real me isn't who others see and know.

Recently, I started to work on the second half of the verse: "I must decrease". God isn't the only one with an active role in this. I have my part too. The physical stuff in my house is being gone through and is being sorted into throw away, donate, and keep. I've made a couple trips already to donate and spent time to fill trash bags with what no one needs. Hopefully when it's all done there will be less stuff taking up room in my home. Walking is helping me to decrease my physical body as well. It's in the early stages, but I genuinely feel better and am one step closer to being the healthy vessel I want to be.

The real changes aren't external though. Long held fears are being dealt with, some I didn't even know I had anymore. I looked up the meaning of the phrase "I must decrease" and it has two meanings in Greek. The one in this verse means to decrease in authority and popularity. Giving Him more authority in my life is vital to losing the fears, the hurts, the selfishness, the control in my heart.

It is a painful road and at times confusing. I long to live a life full of His purpose, but my purposes want to be in control too. They don't want to give up ground in my heart to Him. They want to remain hidden and leave me afraid. I'm sure I'm not the only one who believes that control of my own life, even if painful, is what I want. Somehow we convince ourselves that we need to be the ones in control. I want to decide who is in my life. I want to decide my work. I want to decide the things I enjoy doing and having. I don't necessarily want to give up any of those things. Yet I do want more. More freedom in surrender. More space in my life for what He has planned for my future. More joy. More peace. More of Him in me.

That is why I choose to decrease, so that He has more room to increase in me.

Not About What I Must Do!

It's all about me! That is something I say jokingly. I hope people realize I am joking! I mean I know it is NOT all about me. I know that I am just one person in a world full of billions of people. I know that it isn't about me but about God. So why is it that I know it but sometimes act like I don't?

Read any books about how to become a better, you name it, person? man or woman? husband or wife? pray warrior? money manager? Christ Follower? I have! So many of these books focus on Me! They mention God, but focus on what I need to do. What I need to do. How I need to do it. How often I need to do it. Advice is good, nothing wrong with that. But is it really about me?

I was thinking about this today and looked up one of the classical verses of the Bible to make sure I was remembering it correctly. John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease." KJV. In the King James Version Bible the words that were added are in italics to indicate that. So the word "must" was added. I am not sure why. But I think with it there is work for me to do and without it there isn't.

Now, I'm not saying we don't have work to do. 1Cornintians 3:6-7 seem to back that up. "I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase." (Other versions have less "eths" but I wanted to focus on the word "increase".) Paul goes on to say these are labor jobs and each receives reward based on the job he does. The point is we can do the work but if God is in there is an increase. Which means the opposite is also true. If God is NOT in it then there is no increase.

Which goes back to John 3:30, God MUST increase in order for me to decrease. If I try to decrease on my own I will have to become rule minded in order to do so. I will have to become religious in my approach. It will be all about what I MUST do and how I MUST do it and how often I MUST do it that makes me decrease. But will I really?

A sense of pride will increase within me. Oh, I might do all these things that look like decrease, but I will, deep down, take pride in the fact that I did it. I pulled myself up by my boot straps. God helps those who help themselves, right? Not that He can't, because He can, but who is the emphasis on in those statements? Me!

If we look at John 3:30 without the italics "must" it reads, "He must increase, but I decrease." Do you see the difference. With the word "must" in there about me, it seems that we are both in this together, equally. But without the "must" He is doing the work, the increasing in my life, and because of it I decrease. The focus is on Him. Isn't that where it belongs.

Paul said that his work of planting was important. He says that we will be rewarded based on the labor we do. But the labor must be the work that God calls us to. Paul went traveled and spread the message of Jesus with the people, but he didn't stay. He moved on, and people like Apollos then had to water the seed. If Paul had stayed and watered too, I dare say he would not been as successful as he was at spreading the Word. He would have tried to rise up Christ Followers where he was, but that wasn't his job. God planned for him to take the Word to people. If he had tried to do it in his own strength, stay and water, then I think the increase would have been much less.

One thing I know I must do is open myself up to His increase in my life. As He increases the "musts" that so many of us do will become parts of our lives anyway. As He increases I will be drawn to spend more time with Him. As He increases in me I will be drawn to pray more, listen more, serve more. I will see more of His hand at work in my life as He increases. The idea of I must do this or that will change as I hear Him speak about what He wants me to do. Just like Paul and Apollos, we don't all do the same thing. Sometimes we fall into the "serving trap". The one that sees a place to serve, or even all the places to serve, and we rush in and try to do them. You may look like you are decreasing because you are serving so much, but in reality the "I" in you is increasing. You feel more drained than joyful. You feel more proud of yourself than humble.

I can try to ignore His increase in my life too. When that happens I am not open and He waits for me to be open. He won't force His increase on you. He will wait, He is very patient. Once I realize that I have started "musting" again He can start to increase in my life again.

I prayed this morning to become more like Him. That starts with the focus being on Him. As I focus on Him He gets bigger and bigger and I get smaller and smaller.