YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE

  Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi

       Luke 9:48 "And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great."
       Failure is the inability to succeed .It often leads to a sense of neglect and a low self esteem. In the preceding verses of Luke 9, Jesus Christ had given a hint of His betrayal and transition and this automatically elicited a leadership tussle among the disciples .They had all abandoned their various businesses and paying jobs to follow Jesus  most of them being businessmen who understood the need for a reward system as a means of promotion. They also desired to be considered as being successful and worthy of honour
        They were motivated by competitiveness :a desire to prove oneself superior in any given endeavor,field or contest . This is what drives the cooperate world and unfortunately the modern church . We want to build the biggest, grow the fastest, gather the largest, spend the highest, shout the noisiest in competition with the world's system for honour. This is behind the ever increasing poverty datum line among many Christians who are required to fund bogus infrastructural and ceremonial projects at the expense of human capacity and capital building .
         It is the inability to keep up with the competition that has led to many feeling out of place and inadvertently labeled themselves failures. Competitiveness is not a virtue of the Holy Spirit if it does not lead to the salvation of souls , development of  sound christian character and the propagation of the gospel of Jesus Christ .
              Being competitive is considered a virtue to be admired in the world but not so with the lord. God uses the least likely to do the extraordinary. The scriptures say in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 AMP "For [simply] consider your own call, brethren; not many [of you were considered to be] wise according to human estimates and standards, not many influential and powerful, not many of high and noble birth. [No] for God selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is foolish to put the wise to shame, and what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame. And God also selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is lowborn and insignificant and branded and treated with contempt, even the things that are nothing, that He might depose and bring to nothing the things that are, So that no mortal man should [have pretense for glorying and] boast in the presence of God." Therefore, human labels such as marital status, financial records, academic achievements, societal ranking, beauty are of no relevance before God. Nobody should ascribe his or her success story to any personal virtue before God. He desires all the glory and adoration therefore all praises to Him should be devoid of any personal imputes.
         God isn't a failure therefore, no child of His is a failure . We carry His genes in us and are successful by nature , that's why even the poorest of the poor has a yearning for a better life but unfortunately not too many are able to sustain the dream to see it crystallize into reality.
           When the disciples began to debate among themselves on who will be the greatest, Jesus brought a child and placed him before them and made this very profound statement Luke9:48 ..." for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great." what this means is that while the world considers greatness as being synonymous with being at the top echelon of society God’s approach is the reverse. Greatness resides with those considered as the least in society. Therefore, are you considered least, then you shall be great because greatness resides within you.
           Every person that had attained a great position with God was first made to get acquainted with those so-called low- classed persons in society ; power lies at the bottom, this was the reason why Jesus was born in a manger among the lowly in society in a farmhouse.Political and economic power lies at the grassroots.
       Christians who see themselves as failures in accomplishing worldly goals are driven by a false sense of values and detached from the Christ-like character, The world's idea of success is self -promoting and God does not approve of it because it leads to pride. The scriptures says in Jeremiah 9:23-24 AMP "Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise and skillful person glory and boast in his wisdom and skill; let not the mighty and powerful person glory and boast in his strength and power; let not the person who is rich [in physical gratification and earthly wealth] glory and boast in his [temporal satisfactions and earthly] riches; But let him who glories glory in this: that he understands and knows Me [personally and practically, directly discerning and recognizing My character], that I am the Lord, Who practices loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord".
      Colossians 2:10 says we are complete in Christ; we can't be complete and at the same time be failures. The person who hasn't received Christ and yet globally acclaimed as successful is a grand failure before God (Rev.3:17) . We must have the right perspective on life and not give room for the enemy to sow seeds of failure in our hearts. You are 'greatness 'waiting to happen. You shall be celebrated in Jesus name. Prayer /counseling +2348098536911, +2348035536911
 Email.Michaelbensonajayi@gmail.com