Competing With Love or Loving Competition

     Rising above our colleagues. Out selling our competitors. Accomplishing goals. Compiling bigger numbers. Constantly working on self-improvement. A new sales technique here, a different gimmick there. Daily planners loaded with memos, appointments, and "to-do's". The thrill of competition drives us. Our Type A personalities control us. Staying on the cutting edge defines your day. You attend church on Sunday and hear the preacher read the words of Jesus from John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." Suddenly, the question arises, How can I remain competitive, while at the same time loving my competitors? Most of us often find ourselves in competition. Whether it's at work or at home, we constantly find ourselves competing for money or time. At work we either compete with our nearest competitors for the next job, or we compete with our co-workers as we fight to reach the top first. Bottom line, we are competing for money and all that goes with it.
     It's simple. If we remain competitive, we sell more products, get more jobs, etc. On the other hand, we also seem to compete with co-workers as to who will get the bonus or the raise. Herein lies the rub. As a Christian, the struggle seems to be in fulfilling our call to love everyone, while at the same time doing what it takes to get ahead. It seems contradictory or even impossible to do both.
     It must first be understood that loving our neighbors as ourselves is preceded by the greatest command to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mt. 22:37-40). So it is in the context of loving God first that we are to love others. Contrary to popular belief, biblical love is not being a doormat, nor is it letting everyone have their own way, nor is it a lack of assertiveness. Rather, it is to voluntarily fulfill the purposes of God in our competitors and/or our co-workers. Thus, to be truly competitive is to fulfill the first command. Working as hard as we can and doing our very best in an upright manner is pleasing to God and shows our love for Him. It is up to us to let God handle the rest. He will honor our efforts, as well as, bless our work.
     Getting the sale or the raise instead of your competitors or co-workers ought to be simply a result of hard work, which is not a lack of love toward them. Yet to get the same sale or raise at the expense of those with whom you compete is entirely different. Here is where we are called to lay down our life for another. Giving up our agendas and our rights for the benefit of our competitors and co-workers is loving them. Can you lay down that which is most important to you so another may truly live?
     The other area in which we find ourselves in competition is that of time. We compete for personal time with the job and the family. Our families compete with the job for our time. What is a Christian to do? The same principle applies. If we truly love our spouses, can we lay down our lives, our careers, our overtime, so that they may truly live. Can you live with less money so your spouse may flourish? How about your children? Are you willing to take a lesser job so you have time to play catch in the backyard? Can the report wait to help your child with homework? Are the bonuses worth missing your kids grow up? It seems that sincere love is to copy Jesus. He laid down His life on a cross so we may truly live. Yet, we find it hard to give one inch of our hectic lives up so that others may enjoy a life of their own. Whether it is for money or for time, competition seems to be a moot point. If God is truly loved with all that we are, then the love that sacrifices personal agendas ought to steer our competitive drive.

Essentials...Loving God AND Loving others

Mike