He Must Increase But I Must Decrease Bible Scripture John 3:30
John the Baptist recognized Jesus as the Messiah once the Spirit descended and remained on him. Then, John realized he was at the end of his ministry. He testified about Jesus in public multiple times saying, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)
Finally, one day when both John and Jesus were baptizing at the same place, his followers were basically like, “Hey, there’s that guy you keep talking about. Everyone is flocking to him to get baptized. Not trying to be rude or hurt your feelings, John. You’re our friend and all but Jesus is the talk of the town. Are we supposed to keep following you or go with the rest of the crowd to Jesus?”
John realized his task was done. He’d prepared the way for Jesus, but now that he was here, John would be more of a distraction or an alternate choice to Jesus. He wanted people to hear the Messiah, whom they should really be listening to. To answer his followers’ question John famously replied this Bible verse, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)
John the Baptist was humble yet strong. He knew what God’s mission was for him–to prepare the people for the coming of the Christ. Now that Jesus had arrived, John knew he had to get out of the way. In humility, he told his followers that he wasn’t any use to them anymore. What good is the opening act now that the main attraction is ready to hit the stage?
He Must Increase, I Must Decrease Reflection / Devotional
Following John the Baptist’s example, this Lenten season I’ve decided to use the above verse as a daily mantra to remind myself that my biggest obstacle to a personal relationship with Jesus and intimacy with God is not something external but me.
Stuck in a Rut In My Relationship With Christ
Lately, I’ve been going through what I would consider to be a drought in my relationship with God. It’s not bad. It just feels stagnant like I’m stuck in a rut. I think we all go through times where we feel we’re really moving towards God and times where we’re either moving away or standing still. Sometimes God feels so close that you can feel his presence all around you; sometimes he feels nowhere to be found.
When you’re in those times of little to no growth, it’s wise to examine the cause. Sometimes there is no particular reason. All relationships have seasons of heavy growth and then seasons of little growth. But it can also be a symptom of a roadblock that you’ve put between yourself and God.
Decreasing Ourselves To Improve Our Intimacy and Connection To God
I realized mine just the other night. I still often come to God with an attitude of “what can you do for me” instead of “what can I do for you”. Many times I treat God as the servant and myself as the master when it needs to be the other way around.
I think this is a common problem. Humans are naturally selfish creatures. Jesus echoes this idea of selfishness in the following Bible verse in chapter 2 of the Book of John when he refuses to entrust himself to the people despite them believing in him. “But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.” (John 2:24-25) How often do our prayers involve asking for our will to come true without even stopping to ask whether it is God’s will?
The more we take our eyes off our own will, the clearer we’re able to see God’s will.
Why Being Self-Centered Keeps Us From An Intimate Connection With God
Part of our intimacy with God relies on the ability or at least the desire to carry out God’s will in our lives. Most of the time our will and God’s will is at war. We naturally gravitate to the easiest, safest, least challenging plan for our lives.
Though God cares about us being happy, happiness is not his main concern.
His main concern is for our holiness, growth, and imitation of Jesus. That requires a life that isn’t focused around ease and happiness. That road is not flat and level but strenuous and rough. By climbing mountains we grow and are stretched to our full potential.
What roadblocks are keeping you from moving closer to God that you can work on tearing down during Lent this year?
An Inspirational Christian Poem For Lent, Holy Week, and Easter
Here is a poem I wrote about Lent but also the entire spiritual journey as a whole. The first step in improving our relationship and connection with God is letting go of our selfishness. But in order to grow in this relationship we’ve got to learn to trust God in times of hardship. It’s scary to put ourselves out there and move off the safe path we’re clinging to. Our full potential and final destination, though, can only be reached by following the path that God puts in front of us, not the one we want. John the Baptist is a perfect example of how we must get out of God’s way if we want the power of Jesus to increase in our life.
Walking the Path
Today my journey begins.
I will walk the winding path
That you have set before me.
I will leave behind the comforts of yesterdays -
The stability of life without unforeseen change
Where I am the captain of my soul,
The master of my destiny,
And the ruler of my fate.
But now I leave the wide, empty fields
And enter through the narrow gate -
Where I depart from my crumbling kingdom
And admit that I'm not fit to rule.
I choose to become a servant of your will
And refuse to feed mine any longer.
I choose to be weak
And in the process grow stronger
With every piece of me that gets replaced with you.
I don't know where you will lead me.
And if I'm honest, I'm terrified
Because every inch of my mind
Is telling me that it's foolish
To venture into the unknown with
Only faith as my guide.
But my heart knows that faith is more than enough
And when the road gets tough,
You'll be there by my side.
My spirit soars singing
That I shall be released,
As soon as I find that I've lost myself
And discover that you have increased.
Poem Written by Justin Farley
A Voice in the Wilderness – A Chapbook of Poems About God by Justin Farley
I also have just started a simple living blog at www.lifesmarrow.com
You may also enjoy these other posts / poems about the Lenten Season and Easter:
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ALONG THE BARREN ROAD 
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