THE UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM: A 7 - Day Disovery of How God's Patterns for Living Turn Our Lives the Right Way Up by Youth Alive Ausಮಾದರಿ

LESS IS MORE

Welcome to 7 days of discovering how God’s upside-down kingdom turns our lives the right way up.

We are starting in John chapter 3, when both Jesus and John are baptising people. An argument breaks out among some of John’s disciples who complain that everyone is going to Jesus instead of John to be baptised. People in Jesus’ day were not so different from us. The disciples were competing for influence and popularity, but John tells them in John 3:30 (NIV) that ‘He must become greater; I must become less.’

Have you noticed how quickly someone can become ‘flavour of the month’? A celebrity, an influencer, or even an ordinary person can suddenly go viral, and everyone jumps on the bandwagon with love hearts, likes and comments. Maybe secretly, we want a little of that popularity because it makes us feel better about ourselves. There’s an unspoken message to be known more, do more, and get more. But why is it that the more we have, the less unhappy our generation has become?

John was on to something that is a life-changing lesson for you and me. True contentment comes when I am consumed less with myself and more with Jesus. As life becomes more about Him and less about me, something incredible happens: I find myself more content than I thought was possible. More of Jesus means we allow less of what will not bring good fruit into our lives. Imagine less distraction, less mindless scrolling, less comparing and consuming things that don’t give us peace. In God’s upside-down kingdom, prioritising selflessness and humility brings the things I really need, like peace and a greater sense of purpose.

What are some things you need ‘less’ of in your life?

PRAYER

Dear Jesus,

I ask that you increase in my life today and fill me with more of your Spirit. May my thoughts, words and actions reflect more of you. And help me to decrease, to let go of my pride and my selfish desires. May I become less so that you can fill more of my heart.

Amen