Topic: Who Is Greatest? – Charles Stanley Daily Devotional 17 January 2024
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Who Is Greatest?
Christ’s followers find purpose and joy when they trade their earthly mindset for an eternal one.
January 17, 2024
Matthew 18:1-6
If you’ve spent time around little children, you can attest to the innate human desire to be best, fastest, strongest. “Watch me run! I’m the fastest in the world!” sounds adorable coming from a little boy—but those same words from a grown man would be unsettling. For better or worse, most of us learn to hide our hubris from the world.
Yet when Jesus’ disciples asked, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matt.18:1), it seems they were trying to one-up each other, thinking as a child would. Am I the greatest? Or is he? Why is he better than me? How could I surpass him?
Jesus responded to the juvenile question with a necessary rebuke: None of them were greatest. Yes, as adult men, they held legal and social status that women and children couldn’t attain. Yet in God’s kingdom, this sort of privilege would not only fail to gain them power; it would also be a roadblock to true greatness. However, there is a childlike quality God values: To be “great” in His eyes and in the kingdom, we’re to divest ourselves of power and status and become low, as Jesus Himself did (Philippians 2:5-8). In this way, believers are meant to become like little children.
As followers of Jesus, we too are invited to set aside any earthly status we’ve achieved and become humble and childlike. In so doing, we just may find the kingdom of God in our midst.
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