And when he came into his own country, he taught them in their
synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, From where has this
man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son?
is not his mother called Mary? and his brothers, James, and Joses, and Simon,
and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? from where then has this
man all these things? And they were offended in him. – Mat
13:54-57.
Musicians don’t care who wins the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, and doctors
won’t be perturbed if Kanye West buys a 3rd island. Generally speaking, people don’t mind how
successful you are and will even celebrate with you – as long as you’re not in
the same category as them.
When Jesus was on earth, He got the coldest welcome from His own people,
NOT because He wasn’t anointed but because He was one of them. they saw
His wisdom, they saw His miracles, but because he grew up in their
neighbourhood, they were offended.
When young David enquired from the Israelite soldiers about Goliath, he
got courteous responses, but his brothers there scolded him for meddling.
The reason why people are threatened by the successes of those close to
them is that they feel it leaves them without excuse. They had the same
upbringing, the same limitations, the same challenges, the same education, etc.
So they can’t afford to see you outshine them.
Rather than see the advancement of our fellows as a knock on our
excuses, let’s see it as irrefutable proof that we, too, can make it. If they
can overcome the odds, so can we.
That outlook is all the more refreshing and all the more freeing. It
also opens our eyes to see opportunities that we would otherwise have failed to
see because of the blindness of envy.
AMEN.
More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.
GREG ELKAN
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