It’s not fair - The Elder Son Mentality

 

I am not unaware that many believers are already conversant with the all-important subject of righteousness. Indeed as E. W. Kenyon puts it, this message is one of the most important message ever taught to the church. However, even with the much teaching on the subject, the reality of it is taking time to manifest as it ought. There are still many believers who having been taught by excellent bible teachers are still not different from the elder son of the rich father whose story is narrated in Luke’s gospel chapter 15. The challenge with the young man wasn’t just that he remained conscious of his own righteousness, which would have been a problem in itself, it was also that by his self-righteous thoughts, his father could not do anything for anyone better than what had been done for him, otherwise he would consider it to be unfair, even though he never placed a demand on his position or his father’s ability.

In like manner, there are believers today who are in the exact same state of this elder son of the rich father. They are envious and angry over fellow believers who are making progress by the help of God, particularly when they consider the other fellow “less spiritual”. It is even possible for a minister to be angry over the fact that God is blessing another fellow minister, most especially when the fellow minister is perceived “less spiritual” and is not supposedly as knowledgeable in the word. This is in very poor taste, because you are not in position to determine how much God can do for others, or under what conditions He must do them, and this is what I refer to as the elder son mentality.

When you find yourself in such a place, you are in self-righteousness, and can’t be further away from being the righteousness of God. It is a dangerous place to be for a believer, and it is in fact what led Joseph’s brothers to sell him into slavery. This mentality will hold you hostage and will limit the supply of God’s grace and the flow of the anointing. You must break loose from it and come to the place where you are not envious of the progress of others, knowing that their progress doesn’t mean your retrogression. You must also come to a place where, not only are you not envious of the progress of others, but you truly rejoice with them without any recourse to how well you know their walk of faith to be. This is the instruction of scriptures; to rejoice with others in their good moments, and we can’t choose to do otherwise.

If you think that you need to make some adjustments based on this truth, then you are on the right path, because everyone makes that adjustment from time to time. When next you hear that someone has made some progress by the blessing of God, don’t let envy rise in your heart, don’t attempt to trivialize it, or talk it down, rather celebrate and rejoice with them. Rev. Moyo Akinojo once said that if God is blessing your neighbor, you must rejoice that God is in your neighborhood, because the Blessing would soon land in your house, and I can’t seem to agree more with that.

I understand that sometimes, this could be more challenging; seeing others progressing in the same place where you are struggling, but I encourage you to develop this attitude, it won’t be long till your own celebration will also come.