1. What can the competitive spirit lead to?
It can lead us to be willing to do whatever it takes to appear better than others. The truth is that people in general see nothing wrong with using ruthless tactics, cheating, or even causing harm in order to get their way. But, the Bible in Galatians 5: 19-21 tells us that these actions are part of "the works of the flesh." So we have to constantly fight this improper inclination because we may inadvertently start fostering competition in the congregation and this would cause division.
2. What will we see in this article?
We will see what defects can lead us to want to appear better than our brothers and we will analyze the examples of several faithful servants of biblical times who did not allow themselves to be carried away by this spirit.
TAKE A SELF-EXAM
3. What questions should we ask ourselves?
The questions are, "Do I need to compare myself to others in order to feel good about myself?" What drives me to work in the congregation? Is it a desire to be better than others or at least better than a certain brother or sister? Or is it simply my desire to do my best for Jehovah? "
4. Why should we not compare ourselves to others, as Galatians 6: 3, 4 says?
Because the result of comparing ourselves results, on the one hand, in that it can make us feel that we are superior, and make us proud. Or contrary to this, it can make us feel inferior and discourage us. We must remember that Jehovah drew us to him because we are willing to love him and listen to his son, not because of some ability, beauty or popularity that we have.
5. What do you learn from what happened to a brother named Hyun?
The brother comments that there was a time when he saw those who had privilege in the congregation as rivals, he criticized them, and he hardly ever agreed with what they said. His attitude caused divisions in the congregation, but several friends helped him see the problem he had and he made the necessary changes, he is now a very good elder. From this example we learn that we must take immediate action if we notice that we tend to foster competition rather than seek peace.
LET'S NOT BE EGOCENTRIC OR ENVIOUS
6. According to Galatians 5:26, what defects can lead us to manifest a spirit of competition?
As this text says, the defects are: self-centeredness and envy. We must be clear that competition can pervert our personality and make us proud to be selfish to the point that we come to hate others. So we have to flee from these "works of the flesh."
7. What example helps us understand the damage caused by self-centeredness and envy?
The example is that of the impurities that can have and dirty the fuel of an airplane. If these are not removed and purified, they clog the ducts and cause them to lose power, with a fatal result because it makes the plane unable to land and crashes. Similarly, if someone has been serving Jehovah for a while; but inside there is egocentricity and envy, it will end up crashing. If you stop serving Jehovah, you will hurt yourself and others.
8. How can we fight self-centeredness?
Following the advice given by the Apostle Paul to the Philippians in Philippians 2: 3 where he says that "Let's not do anything motivated by a conflictive or self-centered spirit, but humbly think that others are superior to us." In practice this means that we will not compete with those who have more talents or abilities than we do, but rather we will be happy for them. And, on the other hand, if we have talents we will be humble and concentrate on the good qualities that we see in others.
9. What will help us control the tendency to envy?
What will help us is to be modest, that is, to recognize that we have limitations. So we will look for ways to learn from those who do certain things better than us. If we show sincere and heartfelt interest in each other, thinking that we can always learn something from others, it will help us to avoid envy and also to improve our own abilities.
LEARN FROM BIBLICAL EXAMPLES
ILLUSTRATION:
Gideon speaks with Ephraimites who are armed.
Because he was humble, Gideon kept the peace with the Ephraimites. (See paragraphs 10-12).
10. What situation did Gideon face?
A difficult situation that would have ended in a disastrous war between tribes. The Ephraimites complained bitterly and even violently that in the battle against Midian, Gideon had not called them at the beginning of the fight. It seems that they had wounded pride, they were more focused on protecting the honor of their tribe than they had not thought about the most important thing which was that Gideon had just contributed to honoring Jehovah's name and protecting the people from the enemies.
11. How did Gideon respond to the men of Ephraim?
Judge Gideon responded with humility, he made them see that their deeds did not compare to the deeds that he and his men had performed, he also reminded them how Jehovah had blessed them. With well-chosen and reassuring words, Gideon strove to make amends, avoided a confrontation, and kept the peace between them.
12. What do we learn from the Ephraimites and Gideon?
In the case of the Ephramites, we learn that we should not place more importance on protecting our honor than honoring Jehovah. From Gideon we learn that householders and elders should be humble, if someone is upset with them for something they did, they should strive to understand their point of view and admit that, perhaps, they have somehow contributed to making them feel that way. . The important thing in both cases is not who is right or at fault rather. it is to restore peace in the congregation.
ILLUSTRATION:
Hannah leaves the tabernacle with a calm face as High Priest Eli watches her.
Trusting that Jehovah would help her, Hannah regained her inner peace. (See paragraphs 13 and 14.)
13. What problem did Ana have, and what did she do?
Ana had serious problems, one of them was to bear the shame of not having children, and also to endure the cruel mockery of Peniná, Elcaná's other wife, who "always made fun of her to make her feel bad", to the point that "He ended up crying and didn't eat anything." Ana sought comfort in Jehovah, she opened her heart to him, the result was that she recovered and maintained inner peace, the Bible says that "The sadness disappeared from her face"
14. What do we learn from Ana's example?
It teaches us that when we go through a situation such as "someone is trying to compete with us in some way," it is on our part to control how we react. The wise thing to do is: "not allow ourselves to be provoked, or retaliate, rather, we must try to make amends." Even if the other person does not change, we will maintain inner peace just as Ana did.
ILLUSTRATION:
The Apostle Paul and Apollos converse animatedly.
Knowing that Jehovah was blessing the work, Apollos and Paul did not see each other as rivals. (See paragraphs 15-18).
15. How were Apollos and Paul alike?
Apollo and Paul were two very similar servants of Jehovah: they were excellent teachers and influential and, in addition, they had helped make many disciples.
16. What kind of person was Apollos?
The Bible in Acts 18:24 says that Apollos "was an eloquent man who knew the scriptures very well." So he was a good speaker. Furthermore, in verses 25-26 he says that when Aquila and Priscilla "explained God's way to him more accurately," he was not offended, which shows us that he was also humble. And when in the Corinth congregation, some made it clear that they preferred him and not others, like Paul, Apollos did not allow such personal preferences to create divisions among them, rather, he used his skills to preach and strengthen the brothers. .
17. What did Paul do to promote peace?
Paul was humble, modest and reasonable, he never felt threatened by Apollos, so when he wrote to the Corinthians he made them see that both he and Apollos were "ministers of God" and turned all attention to Jehovah and Jesus Christ. In this way, he fostered peace in the congregation.
18. In harmony with 1 Corinthians 4: 6, 7, what do we learn from the examples of Apollos and Paul?
One of the lessons we learn is that we need to recognize that all the hard work we do for Jehovah and the success we have in helping people reach baptism is only possible because of Jehovah's blessing. Another lesson is that the more responsibility you have in the congregation, such as elders and ministerial servants have, the more they should strive to promote peace and unity. And when it comes to giving advice, they should not focus on themselves, rather, rely on the Bible and our model, Jesus Christ.
19. What can each of us do? (See also the box “Let's not promote competition”).
Jehovah has given each of us talents or abilities, so each of us can use them and do little things to promote peace and unity in the congregation.
BOX "Let's not promote competitions"
Without realizing it, we could help foster a spirit of competition in the congregation. This could happen if we make inappropriate comments about who is the best speaker, who makes the best comments, or which of the forerunners is the best of all. Perhaps we will compare an old man with another who has skills that we like. But the elderly are imperfect human beings. And if one of them sees that they are always being compared to another, they can start to see them as a rival. That would do a lot of damage to the congregation.
WHAT WOULD YOU ANSWER?
Why should we do a self-exam?
We should do a self-examination because it may be that, without realizing it, we begin to foster competition in the congregation and this would cause division. Therefore, if we notice that we have this tendency, it is time to take immediate action, reject and flee from this defect, thus we will maintain peace and unity in the congregation.
What will help us not to foster a competitive spirit?
What will help us is to be humble and modest, that is, to recognize that we have limitations. We should avoid showing that we have more talents and abilities than others, rather, we will look for ways to learn from those who do certain things better than us, thus we focus on their good qualities. The result will be that we will all promote peace and unity in the congregation.
What have the examples of Gideon, Anna, Apollos, and the Apostle Paul taught you?
The example of Gideon Ana, Apollos and Pablo teaches us that in the face of the spirit of competition that may arise between us, it is on our part to be able to control our reactions, so we must be humble and wise «not to allow ourselves to be provoked, nor to retaliate, rather, we must try to make amends. Also, recognize that “we are all ministers of God” and the main thing is that we want to honor Jehovah and restore peace and unity in the congregation.
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