Matthew 5:43-45a (NLT): “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.
Many of us would be hard – pressed to say we have “enemies,” but, deep down, most of us have what we might consider “Competition.” Maybe it’s the teacher who always has the most perfect bulletin boards or the other dad who’s better at sports or hunting than you. Maybe a new business has opened and they offer the same services as you – at a lower price.
Whether you’re an employee, parent, business owner or running for public office, most of us can catch ourselves seeing someone else as the competition. You can’t always control the thoughts that pop into your head but you can control what you do with those thoughts. I challenge you to take those thoughts captive and pray blessings over those you might secretly like to see fail. You might be praying through clenched teeth at first but that’s so much better than keeping a clenched fist!
Patient Father, thank you for creating us uniquely and giving us each a special place in this world. Please forgive us when we compare ourselves to others. Help us to keep our thoughts captive and pray blessings over others rather than secretly hoping to see failure. Amen.