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EVERYONE WANTS TO BE THE GREATEST

Follow the example of the Lord Jesus, serve your neighbour and without desiring to be, you will be the greatest!

Why can’t people understand each other and have harmony and peace? We can see that disagreement is what prevails in this world. The whole world is watching the hostility between Palestinians and Israelis. But it’s not just there. You see hostilities in all parts of the world, whether it’s between rich and poor, white and black, women and men. And many profit from these animosities. Many politicians, if you notice, gain from these hostilities to have the people’s vote. This also happens inside the house itself. The children of the same father and mother often cannot speak the same language. Husband and wife, who say they love each other, sometimes can’t agree on something simple. Why does this happen?

 

One of the big problems behind this is the desire that human beings have to be greater than others. And that desire is what makes the person fight. Do you remember Cain and Abel? “You made me look bad before God,” suggested Cain’s attitude. I mean, Cain blamed his brother for doing good and not himself for disregarding God.

 

How many women and men join a marriage saying: “Man/Woman will not rule over me”? Behind the smiles, the suit, the wedding dress, the photos and all the party props is the thought: “You won’t rule over me”. Here comes the reason for the divorce: “incompatibility of characters”. And so it also happens at work. People feel threatened: “I’m not going to teach my job because so-and-so will take my place”. One speaks ill of the other.

 

But look what happens in the Divine Trinity (God is one, but He manifests Himself in three people: Father, Son and Holy Spirit):

 

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26).

 

God has a gift for you: He wants to dwell in you and teach you everything. If you are interested in being instructed by God Himself, there is the Holy Spirit, God, desiring to live with you.

 

“[…]I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28).

 

This is a mystery. In the Trinity, the Father gave all authority to the Son. They are 3, but they are 1. The Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit have the same authority as the God, the Father. See the harmony of the Trinity. The Son says: “My Father is greater than I. I have no ambition to be greater than the Father.” And this is the Lord Jesus being equal to the Father. That’s why there is complete harmony. You don’t know where it starts and where it ends because there is no dispute.

 

It will end when people give up this useless idea of one wanting to be greater than the other. There was a fight among the disciples to find out who was the greatest. The Lord Jesus had to wash their feet to leave the hint that if someone wanted to be the greatest, he would have to be the smallest.

 

Leave this useless search of wanting to step on others. Take the spirit of a servant. Serve the husband, wife, children, parents, employees, customers, strangers, enemies. And you will be, unintentionally, greater than all of them.

 

Follow the entire message in the video above.

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Bishop Renato Cardoso