Top X July 12, 2025 Devotional
July 12, 2025
GENESIS 27:18-19 | 18 So he went in to his father and said, “My father,” and he said, “Here I am; who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, so that you may bless me.”
Eventually, endless comparison with others can lead to narcissistic personality disorder, in which everyone is a threat to our success, rather than someone to be loved and encouraged. Jacob borders on this issue. He is driven to succeed at all costs, lest his striving become losing. He steals his elder brother’s birthright, deluding his own father, Issac, who’s eyesight was failing. His ambition complicates his relationship with Laban, his father-in-law, as well as with his original family. In some ways, Jacob is a prototype of someone in our own culture. Competition is omnipresent in the U.S. and it is an amazing way to hone skills and drive achievement—as long as it does not become the key to our personalities and identities. We compete at everything! Not just on sports fields but in every activity, from hot dog eating to canoe ballet! We put every person in a high school into a ranked list. Without a deeper sense of identity in Christ, we can all become Jacob.
How has competition impacted you?
Gracious God,
Help me to strive for the greater good of the kingdom. Let me succeed in service first and foremost.
Amen.
