“A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven… He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:27, 30)
John’s secret was simple: everything he had was a gift from heaven, and his assignment was to prepare the way, not to hold the spotlight. When Jesus began baptizing and the crowds shifted, John did not cling to the popularity—he celebrated the rise of Jesus.
Jesus later taught the same principle to His disciples: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24). Selflessness is not a personality trait; it is the daily decision to let Jesus grow larger in our affections, ambitions, and actions while we become smaller.
What area of my life am I still trying to “increase” instead of letting Jesus increase? What would it look like today to deny myself in a specific relationship, habit, or dream?
We should ask forgiveness the thousand ways we grasp for more of ourselves. Let’s learn this lesson of John the Baptist “He must increase, I must decrease.” Let’s make our lives a clear arrow pointing only to Jesus!
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