avoiding unecessary competition in life

AVOIDING UNECESSARY COMPETITION IN LIFE

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Theme: AVOIDING UNECESSARY COMPETITION IN LIFETEXTS : I cor. 9:24 “know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receives the prize? So run that ye may obtain”

ECCL. 11:9 “Rejoice in thy youth and let thy heart cheer thee and walk in the ways of your heart, but know that for all these thing, God will bring thee into judgment”

2tim. 2:3-4 “thou therefor endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangles himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.INTRODUCTIONIts easy to go through life competing with everyone around us, especially when we see someone more talented, more beautiful or someone that has more gifts than we do.Instead we are expected to celebrate their success rather than putting on unnecessary pressure on our resources to compete with such.


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At times you may put on a new dress an feel very happy but that will be until a friend comes in with another design to change your mood.You might be leaving beside a neighbor who has put up a brand new car and you are happy on the outside but your inside is full of feeling being unfulfilled and insecure.The problem with unnecessary competition in life is that it is an unending cycle, there must be someone ahead of us and someone behind us.


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The very clear way forward is to tell yourself that I am not competing with you, I must not have a house as big as your to feel fulfilled.

You do not have to look like she looks or wear what she is wearing to feel secure.

You do not need to be in competition with your friend, neighbor, co-worker, etc the only person you should be competing with is yourself.

I am going to be the best me that I can be, even though the best me may not be succesful as my neighbor but so long as that is my best its ok.


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The best you may not be as thin as your sister but that’s ok.The best you may not be talented and dynamic as your colleague, but that’s ok.You have a responsibility to be comfortable with what God made you to be.You get distracted by trying to be someone else, or having what they have, going to places they go, etc.I may not be the best preacher in the district, but I am ok with that but I am going to be the best preacher I can be.I may not be a good father as some else is but I am going to be the best father that I can be.I may not be the ideal husband as others are, but I have the responsibility to be the best husband that I can be.


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We could be inspired by others who are role models, but you do not have to go around condemning yourself and others for not being like them.Remember, you have traits that no one else has and everyone has traits that you do not have as well.God never created us to go around competing and comparing with others.The reason some people don’t feel good or secured about themselves is that they always go around looking at what others are doing.Stay focus on your own race, you are not anointed to do what others are doing.


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God gave you the sufficient grace to be who He called you to be but when we engage ourselves in this concept to be better than our neighbor, life becomes a constant struggle.The reality is that if you catch up with one person, you will discover that there is another person still ahead of you again.Some people always go frustrated with the weight they have, how they look and constantly trying to change things to look like others.Remember “you race is made up of one person and that is you alone”


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God is not going to hold you accountable for someone’s gift or genes.God is not going to judge you by asking if you did keep up with your co-worker?, did you drive an expensive car as your brother, were you as successful as your elder?, were you as thin as your sister? God is going to judge you by saying “ DID YOU RUN YOUR RACE?DID YOU MAKE THE MOST WITH WHAT I GAVE YOU?WERE YOU CONFIDENT AND FULFILLED WITH WHAT I PUT IN YOU?OR did you go around beating yourself up because I did not make you to be like your best friend?


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Remember you were designed for a specific purpose so don’t go competing in a domain you were not designed to compete in.The key issue is to run your race, there is nothing wrong in saying ‘ those are not my strains”Without mincing the words John the Baptist said “NO I AM NOT THE MESSIAH” (john 1:20)John knew what he was and as well as what he was not. it is just as important to know who you are not as well as who you are.


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There is nothing wrong with not being the fasted, there is nothing wrong with not being the richest, the most beautiful, the must successful or the must talented.But there is something wrong if you are not doing your best.Don’t put up pressure on yourself to do the things you were not designed to do them, but use your opportunities to the optimum.Take the pressure off yourself, you are not in competition with anyone else.Focus on your own race and be the best in your domain.


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When you go around comparing your gift, soon you will start competing,Remember nobody could be you, so quit wishing you were somebody else, quit thinking if I could sing like this or that person, if I could look like him, etc,The truth is that someone whom you are struggling to be like quite often are wishing to be like you.Everyone of us has something special about us, you are anointed in your own domain, some one is wishing to be you, you don’t have to compete with anyone.


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You might only discover that you have miss your turn in life when trying to compete unnecessarily with another person.You will see your life going to a new level if you just quit competing with people round you.It takes a lot of physical, financial and emotional energy to compete with someone operating at his optimum.Its very normal to say I DON’T HAVE TO IMPRESS ANYBODY TODAY, I HAVE NOTHING TO PROVE, AM SECURE WITH WHAT I HAVE, I AM NOT GOING TO FEEL BAD IF YOU LOOK BETTER THAN I AM OR MAKE MORE MONEY BUT I MUST BE MY BEST.


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In this world you are not free until you realize that you don’t have to please people, you don’t have to justify yourself to be recognized by mankind, you are not in competition with any one else.This what put king Saul off tract.He was doing well, had the same anointing to be king as any other king, until he missed his way and started trying to someone else.(1 Sam. 18:7- the women sang “ Saul has killed thousands and David tens of thousands”Verse 9 says “ Saul never look at David again the same way”


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Saul was so insecure that he led someone’s success made him feel uncomfortable.

Normally he will have be glad having some one like David so skillful in his team, but it takes a secured and matured mind to function on that frequency.

One of the tests we will surely pass through in life is the test of not being jealous when our neighbor succeeds and not being critical when someone passes ahead of us.

the scripture says “ a man must be content to receive the gift which is given him”-John 3:27


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You have to accept the gift that God has given you and operate fully on it to be the best.The real test that God is waiting for you to pass for your promotion is to celebrate those whom he has risen around you without being jealous and critical, competing to be as them.Saul lost the kingdom in power because he could not led anyone become greater.The spirit of competition will cause us to do things we never dream we could do.Saul had loved David and treated him like a son, he could not dream throwing an arrow against David until this spirit took over his life.


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Saul could not understand that David was a tens thousands level person while he was a one thousand level person.If only he could just be like John the Baptist to affirm that this is what I am and this is what I am not, then he will not have lost his kingdom.If he could have just being satisfy with his gift and run his race, he could have fulfill God’s destiny in his life.But instead, he got distracted, wasted his time and energy competing with someone who was not in his race because God had already ordain David to go further.


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I may not be a tens thousand person, God may have made me to be a one thousand level person, but I am going to be the best one thousand person you have ever seen, I am not going to stop at 990 but I am going to be just what God created me to be.If you are heading a thousand, don’t be depressed if you see another person heading tens thousands, run your race.There is nothing wrong being a one thousand person, quit thinking that you have to measure up your success with some one else, you are in your own race, just be the best in your race.


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You don’t have to be intimidated or inferior because you are not succeeding as persons A or persons B, you just have a responsibility to be sure that “ YOU ARE DOING JUST ALL YOU CAN DO”You are in a class all by yourself, when God mad you He throw away the left over material, there is no one else like you to be competing with in this season.Don’t compete yourself but celebrate yourself, you have everything you need to reach at your God given Destiny.Be more comfortable in your own skills and do your best.


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Let it go no one is in your race, any comparism with others is a distraction on your way to glory.Remember, you don’t have to live a life to impress anyoneYou don’t live a life to prove/justify your self right before others, keep your head and concentrate on the race ahead of you, be secure in what God has asked you to do.If you will stay free from the spirit of competition and concentrate on being the best in your race, you will see your talent and gift coming in full percentages.

avoiding unecessary competition in life

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