1 Samuel 18:8
“And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?”
Nothing will destroy teamwork more than jealousy. Inside this verse is the story of David and Saul after the slaughter of Goliath. What a great victory God had given to Israel through the hand of David. With Israel working together they were able to do great things. Now as they come home from the battle, the ladies of the city were singing the song, “…Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” I can only imagine King Saul as he hears the first part of the song, how his heart must have been lifted up in pride as he thought the ladies of the city were welcoming him back. But then came the remainder of the verse where they ascribed to David ten thousands. Immediately we see the ugly eye of jealousy creeping up in the heart of Saul when he heard David getting more praise than he. What a tragedy that Saul let this little song destroy his spirit toward a very loyal servant. What a tragedy that Saul was willing to let jealousy kill what teamwork had done for Israel.
Yet, the same thing happens on the job, in the church and in our society all the time. If we are not careful we can get more wrapped up in the accolades of people than realizing how much teamwork can accomplish.
When trying to accomplish something, we cannot get jealous of someone because they get more praise than us. We must realize that we are all on the same team and though one may get more praise than the other, without the team the victory would not have been won. It takes teamwork for great victories to be won. It takes teamwork for the giants of life to be defeated. It takes teamwork for great causes to flourish. Superstars do not win championships. Teamwork wins championships, but jealousy can destroy a championship team.
In our churches, we must be careful not to let the praise of others cause us to become jealous. If we let jealousy creep into our churches, then our churches will cease to accomplish great things. Pastors cannot become jealous of another pastor who gets recognition because his church is bigger. That will kill us! We all need to work together to accomplish great things for God. When someone receives praise we should be excited that God has blessed someone in that matter. When we get past the stage of worrying about who will get the recognition for the work being done, then great things can happen. I love the quote that says, “It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn’t matter who gets the credit.” When everyone is concerned with just doing the work of God and not about who is going to get the credit for doing the work, then it is amazing the unity and the work that will be accomplished.
Let us be careful to not let our jealousy over someone else’s recognition destroy the teamwork that we have going for us. Let us remember, in God’s work there is no place for jealousy, there is only place for teamwork. When jealousy starts creeping in great works cease because jealousy kills teamwork. Teamwork in the work of the Lord will accomplish great things.
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