Slaves to the Spirit of Competition

One of the worst bondages that a Christian can be in, is that of competition. Competing against unbelievers, believers, friends, and family. Feeling like one has to out-do another, to make themselves feel secure or have a sense of purpose. One that struggles in this area, will usually struggle with self confidence, and not truly understanding their worth in Christ.

The spirit of competition stems from an insecurity

It causes one to be jealous of another persons success, achievements, looks, personality, or anything someone else has that we believe we don't have. It makes you always feel like you have to one-up everyone. Meaning, every time someone posts a picture with their boo, you feel like you have to out-do, or keep up with them to stay relevant. So you try to get your boo to take a picture with you, and they don't even like taking pictures; so you're sitting there looking crazy on the inside. Spirit of competition.

One of the silliest places I see this competing spirit is in marriages. Husbands competing with wives, and wives competing with the husbands. It's so silly because they're supposed to be on the same team. When it pertains to the woman, she highly values the attention and applauds of people greater than the attention and applauds of her husband. She may have feel like she lacked value for so long, that the affirmation of people became a norm in her heart. Insecurity. So, if her husband begin to get a little attention, she feels the need to always one-up him, because it steals attention from her.

On the other hand, you have the husbands competing with their wives. From his wife making more money than him, to his wife getting more likes on social media than him. Insecurity births the spirit of competition. Whenever a man feels threatened by his wife, he will often fight against her. He will get easily angered, and even discourage her in good works. He's fights against her, instead of winning with her. 

We also see this spirit in operation inside of the church. 

Especially during offering time. Offering time turns into a modeling runway. It's pretty sad. People not wanting to go to church on Sunday because "they don't have anything to wear" (AKA they don't have a new outfit to out-do someone). These things definitely shouldn't be inside the church. People should come with what they have, and we shouldn't we whispering/gossiping about what someone has on when they walk by. Our outward appearance should not be the object of our conversations. We should be governed by modesty, not being the most trendy anyway. 

Preachers also competing with other preachers trying to sound the best. Being scared to go behind other preachers in conferences, because the first preacher is a talented speaker. It's competition. True Godly men are on the same team. They aren't trying to sound or appear "the best". Or more anointed. Their intentions are to promote Christ, not themselves.

Comparison Breeds Competition

One of the popular questions I get is: Why does it seem that unbelievers seem to be more blessed than believers? I first try to see where they get their definition of "blessed" from. Because if one define "blessed" by financial gain, then they are heavily deceived. And honestly, some of the most wealthiest of people are some of the most suicidal. Because they find their worth and value in their bank accounts. So when wealth is taken away, their identity is lost and they see no value in life. This shouldn't be so with the believer. Our identity should be in Christ, and in Him alone should our confidence rest. Security.

When we compare what we have to what others have, it breeds a need to evaluate what we have by what others have. We will begin to envy what someone else may have, and this ultimately gives way to discontentment. Especially on social media. I call it the highlight reel, because that's all it is. People will only post their best on social media, and we have a tendency to compare our worst to their best. This comparison causes us to compete within ourselves; unrealistically comparing what we have to this perfect idea of what we think others have.    

This competition spirit is real, and many of us are slaves to it. We will only be free from this bondage when we totally accept our identity in Christ. Not living to prove our haters wrong, but living solely to prove God right.