I have no doubt that everyone would agree with me that we live in a world of oppression; our self esteem is buffered up by what we have that our neighbor doesn’t have and vice versa. I have most times wondered why we live in such competitive world fueled with all manners of negative elements like hatred, envy, anger, bitterness, etc. As an entrepreneur or even in the workforce, you cannot really survive without taking account of the competition. However, I cannot neglect to mention the positives inherent in competition ‫ maximizing potentials, encouraging creativity and innovation, eliminating oligarchy, renewing the energy of the participants, etc. The aforementioned elements make competition look like a great thing until you start looking deeper into chronic side.

According to the bible, competition started with the first two offspring of the first man and woman on earth. It was just two brothers offering their God proceeds from their respective industry. The younger brother’s offering was respected while the elder’s was rejected. On the surface, it may appear that this singular action by God shows that God encourages competition but when you review God’s reason for the rejection, you would definitely erase this particular line of thought from your mind; “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him”

The above statement did not say if you have done as good as your brother or better; the statement says if you do well. The concept of “well” is not in comparison with a fellow human but in the ability to maximize what you have. This particular concept was corroborated in many parts of the bible ‫ a great example would be the poor man that gave his last coin for offering while the rich men gave part of theirs; Jesus said the poor man has given the most despite the numerical value of the what the rich men gave was more than the poor man. Another example would be the parable of the talents where the emphasis is on maximizing what you are given not on the numeric strength.

This simply means God does not support competition but God supports maximization. God has given you ALL that pertains to life and Godliness: You only need to recognize what God has deposited in you and maximize it because if you fail to maximize what you are given, sin is inevitable. Whenever, I hear someone complain about how rough life is; I always hear comparison; one of the reasons you think your life is rough is because you are comparing yourself with someone else; “my salary is peanuts” “I do not have a child” “my wife is always nagging” “my car is very old” “I do not have a job”. No matter how valid these complains are, they are index against another person. This is where the problem stems from.

When God noticed that Cain was envious of his brother, he immediately warned him that the problem does not lie with his brother but his failure to maximize what he has been given. God gives us talent according to our ability. Remember, the talents are given according to what God believes you can handle. God gives you the talent but it is not God that maximizes it; that responsibility lies with you. When God created man and woman and placed them in the garden; the first thing he told them to do was to be fruitful, multiply, subdue and dominate. This is not the job of God for you but your own given assignment.

When you fail to maximize what you have been given, sin lies at your door. When you hide the talent you have been given, it’s just a matter of time before it is taken away from you and given to another. This is the idea of the scripture that says the wealth of the sinners would be transferred to the righteous. The righteous man is the one that maximizes his talent while the sinner is the one that hides it. The whole concept of “perceived sins” like greed, anger, theft, fornication, etc is simply symptoms of the true “sin” ‫ not living a life of purpose in God.

A very important thing to mention is that we cannot really grow or increase if we kill the Abels in our lives through gossip, envy, manipulation and bitterness. Our ability to grow lies in recognizing the talents that God has deposited in us and maximizing it.I realized that I can be the best I can with what I am giving, then I am very much in the game for an increase from God. If you do not plant your talents and allow others to benefit from it through watering, God would not bring the increase. I believe our prayers should not be focused on God giving us more things because he has already given us all we need; we should model our prayers according to Apostle Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:18 ‫ “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of HIS calling, and what the riches of the glory of HIS inheritance in the saints.”

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