Hi all. Have you ever been in a situation where God has been speaking to you and you say what about this person? Why do I have to do that? They are worse than me. What about when God tells you to change a behaviour or action but all your friends are doing it, even your pastor? We again say, what about this man, or woman?
Jesus had exactly the same question asked of him in John 21. Jesus was telling Peter about his future. Then Peter said in verse 21, what about this man referring to John. Jesus’ response to Peter is exactly the same as to us today. The response was what is that to you, you follow me. In other words, do what I tell you to do and mind your own business.
Jesus wants us to concentrate on our own walk with Him. The only thing He wants us to do to others is love them and encourage them. So how do we concentrate more on our walk with God than others’ walks with God. Some of the ways are:
1. Seek God for what He would have you do. In Matthew 6:33, the Bible says “seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you”. What are these things? Everything that you need to live your life abundantly and in God’s will for you. Don’t look at others and compare yourself (I have been guilty of this more times than I can count). God made you and He didn’t make a mistake. The only mistake is when we don’t seek God first.
2. Know that God has an amazing plan tailor made for your life. In Jeremiah 29:11, the Bible says ” for I know the plans that I have for you, plans for good and not disaster to give you a future and a hope”. God only has good plans for our lives and the plan He has for us is different to everyone else’s plan. But the good plan will only come to pass as we follow Him and not someone else.
3. Know that you are unconditionally and truly loved by God. I think that if we understood this more, we would know God is for us and not against us. We would know that if we follow Him, blessings will come. Sure there may be hard times. Satan is still ruling this world but as we stick close to God and hear His voice, this will over rule the enemy’s influence on our lives.
The thief of joy is comparison. Don’t ask “what about this man or woman”, ask God how can I do better. What about the plans for me? Show me Lord. It is when we walk and live in the perfect will of God for our lives that we will find peace and contentment with ourselves.
Let’s all practice that this week and let me know how you are going. Together we will keep living the life God intended for each of us.
Living the life God intended 