Shining as Stars

Nature has it that I'm a very "kiasu" or competitive person... It's that bad that sometimes I get depressed about every little instance that I lost... I would beat myself up for losing everytime. It came to a point where I asked myself why am I THIS competitive and afraid of losing. So when I'm this desperate about something, you can be sure that I'll pray about it... I asked God for him to speak to me on this, and this morning when I did my devotions, I got an inkling about what God is trying to say to me.

Philippians 2 ~ v3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. v4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others....v14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, v15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe...

I'm not against competition... but if the competition and fear of losing makes you feel depressed and even to be envious or hold resentment towards another (which is exactly how I feel sometimes), you need professional help...no, I'm not talking about Oprah, but it's time to talk to God about it and have a good look at yourself...

The Bible is very clear that in whatever we do, we should build others up, not break them down. Why does the Bible say "in humility consider others better than yourselves.."? Humility, can mean two things - 1) That we might be better at something than others, but we should not be boastful of it; 2) That we are not skillful in that particular thing and just simply not as good as the other person and so we should look up to these people. This just goes to show that there are things that we are good at and not so much in other things... it's a fact of life! My dad always told me this, that no matter how good you think you are at something, there is always somebody else who's better.

But that's not the main reason why we should not be overly "kiasu"...

The bible actually describes someone who's overly competitive as SELFISH. We are all selfish beings, at some point. This is the major point of contention: Are we selfish of selfless?

We are called to be holy because Christ is holy, and that our attitude should be the same as that of Christ. I believe that God is not against competition. Competition is about endurance, putting in that little extra and staying focused on the prize. The Bible talks a lot about that through Paul. However, we are called to be SELFLESS beings for many reasons, but one of them is simply because Jesus Christ is selfless in everything that He does and we are supposed to emulate Him.

Paul is a very good example of someone who has given his ALL, just so everyday, at least one more person woould come to know God. He was jailed for his work, and persecuted for his faith. Even so, he says in Philippians 2:17~ But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.

I know my strengths and weaknesses. But I also know that it's sometimes very difficult to divorce that selfish nature from ourselves, and be selfless. And I also know that I won't be able to change my mindset overnight. But let's strive towards "doing everything without complaining or arguing, so that we may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which we shine like stars".