He must increase, but I must decrease.
—John 3:30
These are some of the most beautiful and costly words ever spoken by a human being. John the Baptist said them about Jesus: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Nine words that run against every instinct we have, and nine words that hold the secret to a life of purpose.
Think about who said them. John the Baptist was, by any earthly measure, a success. Crowds streamed out to the wilderness to hear him. People were baptized by the hundreds. He was the talk of the region, the prophet everyone wanted to see. And right at the height of his popularity, as the crowds began drifting toward Jesus instead, John didn’t cling, didn’t compete, didn’t campaign to stay on top. He said, in effect, “Good. That’s how it’s supposed to be. He must increase, and I must decrease.”
That is the exact opposite of how our world tells us to live. Everything around us says increase yourself. Build your brand. Grow your platform. Make your name bigger, your following larger, your profile higher. Self-promotion isn’t just tolerated anymore; it’s celebrated as wisdom. And into all of that noise, John quietly says the way up in the kingdom of God is down.
As men and women born again by the Spirit of God, we’ve been given new life. But with that new life comes both a responsibility and an opportunity, to expand God’s kingdom on earth by putting first things first. And you cannot expand His kingdom while you’re busy expanding your own. One of them has to decrease.
Here’s the paradox that makes this good news instead of bad: decreasing before Jesus is not loss. When He increases in your life, everything that matters increases with Him. Your peace increases. Your purpose increases. Your usefulness to God increases. It’s only self, with all its clamoring and striving, that has to get smaller, and most of us would be glad to be free of that weight if we knew we could lay it down.
So, the practical question is this: in the places where you and Jesus are both reaching for first place, who is winning? In your calendar, your money, your ambitions, your reputation, is He increasing, or are you? Because both cannot sit on the throne of your life at the same time.
John had found something better than being first. He had found the joy of pointing to the One who deserves to be first. That same joy is waiting for you the moment you stop guarding your own place and gladly give it to Him.
Let Him increase. Let yourself decrease. And discover that the smaller self becomes, the larger and fuller your life in Christ grows.
THE WAY UP IN GOD’S KINGDOM IS DOWN. LET JESUS INCREASE AND SELF DECREASE, AND YOUR TRUE LIFE WILL GROW.
