Keeping the Focus on Yourself

Wise Scripture

In John 21, Jesus was speaking with Peter. Jesus was letting Peter in on the hardships he will face once He fulfilled his ultimate destiny. Worried that other disciples might have it easier than him, Peter turned, saw John and then asked Jesus “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus replied to Peter with “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” John 21:21-22. Jesus politely told Peter to mind his own business and that what John or any of the other disciples go through his none of his business and that his business should be on following Jesus.

This is a very powerful piece of scripture that still applies today. Too often, there are people prying into other people’s lives for no other reason than the fact that they can. Sometimes these offenders don’t even know that they’re doing it, they’ve just accepted it as normal. Sadly, this type of behavior is NOT normal, it’s far from normal actually. The only thing anyone should be focusing on is their spiritual journey with God, not focusing on what your co-worker does or what a suck up your sibling is. You just need to stay level, focused and do what God asks of you. In order to do this, follow these few basic steps.

Keep Your Eye On Envy or Jealousy

Jealousy and Envy come from someone who wants something another has. You can watch two toddlers each have a toy but one of them wants what the other toddler has. Still learning, the toddler will reach out for the toy they want and even hit and scream for it. As you grow older, you know that behavior isn’t condoned nor is it pleasant, however those feelings of envy and jealousy, still exist. So, what a lot of people do instead of fighting, they begin to act passive aggressively. But, if you were to focus solely on your spiritual progress, you wouldn’t be acting this way.

Jealousy and envy can harden the softest of soft hearts in no time and make them behave towards a certain individual in a not so nice way. Anyone with massive amounts of jealousy or envy will most likely spend more of their time focused on what others have rather than the blessings in front of them. Some people write this behavior off as normal, but it can lead to an unhealthy mindset if it’s left untreated. If you find yourself facing from these two things, talk to God about it and ask for the strength to keep your focus on yourself.

Refuse To Compare And Compete

Insecurity is the force behind comparing and competing. Let’s take Helen for example. She’s still newly married and expecting her first child. Her and her husband had the life until her husband’s company decided to lay him off. To make the best financial decision for their soon to be born baby, they move in with her parents temporarily. Being back at her parents’ house automatically brings Helen back to when she was a teenager. Helen just doesn’t understand why this happened to her and why God would do such a thing. She was SO miserable; she began comparing every little detail of her life to her friend’s life. Their husband did this and that, even had a nice paying job. Feeling inferior, she would try to compete in ways that she could, but to no avail, it brought her no happiness. Why? Well, Helen simply couldn’t accept the situation for what it was and that she had no trust in God’s plan. What she should have done was take a deep breath, collect herself and pray about God’s plan for her. Sometimes we have to be tested for the greatness to come.

Debunking Worldly Status

In society, the best place to be is ahead of everyone. That means living in a large house, driving insanely expensive cars, wearing name brands and so on. That’s all that you see in your everyday life and that makes it hard to be still and content when the world is pushing you to strive for more than you need. To everyone else looking from the outside in at the people who have almost everything, they look like they have it all, but what they really have is an accumulating pile of debt and a facade. Jesus told us to be in this world, not of it. That means that we’re living in this world, but we do not follow its rules, we follow God’s! Sometimes it’s hard to not to take a peek at someone else’s life, but keep in mind when you do, God has a different plan for them, just like He does for you!